For this holiday, I’d like to share something I learned. The holiday is the celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior. Most know it as Easter, which is actually a pagan celebration of a fertility god(ess) brought to America by German immigrants in the 1700s. I prefer the title “Resurrection Sunday.”
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God gave His only Son for the ultimate sacrifice (crucifixion), giving all that believe eternal life. What a wonderful gift! When Jesus rose from the dead it fulfilled “begotten,” since He wasn’t conceived of man’s seed but conceived without sin, and begotten when He was resurrected and went home (Heaven).
This wasn’t the first sacrifice in this area, there were many before. In Genesis 22:2 God says to Abraham, “Take thy son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee unto the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” If you continue reading this story, God provided a sacrifice (a ram), saving Abraham’s son’s life.
Then around a thousand years later, we’re told in 2 Chronicles 3:1, “Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah.” This is where all sacrifices being offered to God were brought.
Now, the greatest sacrifice of all. Hebrews 13:11-12: “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the High Priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate (outside Jerusalem’s gate on Mt. Moriah).”
You choose which Gospel — Matthew, Mark, Luke or John — to read of the crucifixion and resurrection. All tell of the horrific death and astounding resurrection three days later: the reason we celebrate this holiday.
Now you’re saying, “What’s all this have to do with Resurrection Sunday?” Everything! It’s all part of God’s plan. We’re told about the crucifixion from the first book of the Bible (Genesis). Isaac ask Abraham in Genesis 22:7, “…Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answers, verse 8, “…My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering…” I believe referring to Jesus, Lamb of God.
God promised Abraham a son that will be named Isaac, whom God will make His covenant with. Now Abraham was 99, his wife (Sarah) was 90 and they had no children. But Genesis 21:2 tells Isaac was born of the pair. The faith and belief in God’s word, part being promised a son, was probably a reason God provided the ram in place of Isaac for the sacrifice (Genesis 13:13).
Then around 2,000 years later in the same area, Mount Moriah, God provided another sacrifice — His Son Jesus Christ. Again God’s given sacrifice saved someone from death, giving them “eternal life.” That someone is you, me, and anyone else who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior.
So admit you’re a sinner, ask God to forgive you, believe in the crucifixion and resurrection, study and learn God’s word through Bible study and prayer. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and remember; God sacrificed His only begotten Son for us all.
So let’s all celebrate “Resurrection Sunday.”
God bless all!

 Jeff Long lives in Salisbury.