Easter Eggs: Blood

by Leah Dummel

I have never been a person who gets “freaked out” by the sight of blood. In one of my past jobs I would draw blood almost daily; I think the most vials I drew from one person at a time was 7! After I drew the blood, the physicians would send it off to lab, for they were looking for answers. And the answers they were looking for were found in that persons’ blood. 

I find this incredible, that so many answers to medical questions are found simply in our blood. When looked at as a whole, blood seems so simple and straight forward. But when you break it down in a lab or under a microscope, it is extremely complex. And one of the most important pieces of information we know about blood, is that it is necessary for life. You can’t live without healthy blood, it’s impossible.

This concept, of blood being a necessity for life, automatically takes me to the meaning behind Easter. Plain and simple, Jesus’s perfect blood was shed during a horrific death as a sacrifice for our sins. This shedding of blood was a necessity and a part of God’s plan to redeem His people, so that we may LIVE with Him forever, rather than pay penalty for our sins.

One of the beautiful things about scripture and the way the Bible is written is that we can see glimpses, or “Easter Eggs” in the Old Testament long before Jesus ever walked the earth. One of the most significant of these regarding Jesus’s perfect blood shed is that of the Passover. Exodus 12:21-23 tells us that in order to avoid God’s death angel, blood must be shed.

            Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood.

Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the door-frames of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the door-frame, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down”.

The Israelites were depending on the blood of a lamb to protect their family members from certain death. And blood sacrifices like this were not uncommon in the Old Testament. It seems that God was planting the seed for when He would send His son to earth to be the final blood sacrifice.

When Jesus died on the cross; when His perfect blood was shed, that was it. God tells us He does not require any more sacrifices; for Jesus’s blood was the ultimate sacrifice. His death and resurrection had fulfilled all the prophecies. Nothing further is required of us. We are covered, protected, and given freedom under this great and final bloodshed. Christ’s blood is a necessity for us to live, and under it we are covered from all our sins.

Easter Eggs: Suffer

by Desi Ash

There are days and moments that you will never forget. You won’t forget the moment you held your kids for the first time, your wedding day, or the moment when you heard devastating news (like 9-11). Sometimes there are unexpected hints, “Easter Eggs” that might tip us off that something is coming, other times they come completely out of the blue.

One of the moments I will never forget is the time my mom sat me down and told me that her health was failing and that her doctor gave her five years to live. It happened over Christmas Break from my freshman year in college. The first thought that came to mind was I was dropping out of college and would spend those years with my mom and brothers. I didn’t want to miss out on anything and I wanted to be there to help in any way possible. That is exactly the opposite of what my mom wanted for me. She told me to go back to school and graduate.

The news crushed me. “How could this be? Yes, my mom’s health wasn’t always the greatest, but she can’t die, not yet. God please,” I cried out over and over. I didn’t understand. There were no answers; nothing could ease the emptiness that I was feeling. God seemed distant and the encouraging things people tried to tell me just made me feel worse.

This moment, in the big scheme of things, was just an “Easter Egg”. For the next ten years my mom would be in and out of the hospital, would need surgery but be denied due to the uncertainty of surviving it, be bounced from doctor to doctor looking for answers. Then it happened. The trip to the hospital that seemed like it was the last. A feeding tube put down her nose, her frail body lying in the hospital bed. That wasn’t my mom. My mom was fun and spunky. My mom loved to cook and work with her hands. My heart was breaking and each time I left the room I would stand outside the door and cry because I wasn’t ready to lose her.

Remarkably my mom bounced back. She was able to prove the doctors wrong and today she is in some of the best health of her life. It was a struggle to get through those years; those moments where the unknown was so overwhelming.

What I needed through the struggle of dealing with my mom’s diagnosis was to remember that God knew what it was like to suffer. I wasn’t alone in those feelings.
We get the first “Easter Egg” of this suffering in Psalm 22, where David cries to God in song:

            “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

            “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.”

            “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

I wonder if David could grasp the depth of this song. I wonder if he knew that this was a prophecy of what was to come. I wonder if he knew that God was using him in such a bigger way.

Jesus suffered a horrific death. A death that He didn’t deserve yet took anyway so we wouldn’t have to wonder if God has forsaken us.

As I look back and think about the suffering my family faced in the midst of my mom’s failing health, I see God. I see God in the way the bills were paid, there was food on the table, there were good memories made, and ultimately I see God in the fact that my mom is still alive, beating many odds and many doctors’ expectations.

Life has its struggles. Kids don’t come with an instruction manual and you never know what is going to happen in the day to day. Remember, especially this Easter that Jesus suffered. He suffered for you and for me. He suffered so we wouldn’t have to wonder if God has forsaken us. God has a bigger plan for the things that happen. Keep an open eye, for you are not suffering alone.      

Easter Eggs: Payment

by Whitney Jones

You know, when you really think about it, God could have wiped us out and started over when sin entered the world. Instead, he sent Jesus to die for us, to show us in action how much he loves us. Jesus died to save us from our sins. He was human, but he was also God. On the third day, he rose again. Jesus has power over death. He has the power to forgive our sins and give us a new life.

Over 700 years before Jesus was even born, Isaiah prophesied that there would be a Man who would be slain as a Lamb, and his wounds would heal all our sin.

Isaiah 53:5, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.’ The sins that should have crushed us under the weight of guilt were transferred to Christ. This is the glory of grace, and it could only come by suffering,”

How could a person from the Old Testament understand the idea of Christ dying for our sins and actually bearing the punishment that we deserve? It is one thing to kill a lamb, and something different to think of God’s chosen servant as that Lamb. But God used a person like Isiah to let the people look ahead to the suffering of the Messiah and the resulting forgiveness made available to all people.

1 Peter 2:21-22 “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threatened revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”

We may suffer for many reasons. Some suffering is the direct result of our own sin; some happens because of our foolishness; some is the result of living in a fallen world. Peter is writing about suffering that comes as a result of doing good. Christ never sinned, and yet he suffered so that we could be set free.

Jesus’ suffering was part of God’s plan and was intended to save us. In Matthew 16:21, “From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.” All who follow Jesus must be prepared to suffer.

It says in Mark 8:34-35, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” Our goal should be to face suffering as he did- with patience, calmness, and confidence that God is in control of the future.

Christ died for our sins, in our place, so we would not have to suffer the punishment we deserve.

I challenge you to take some time to read the Easter story, with your kids and by yourself. Meditate on the story, and give glory to God that we have a Savior who loved us enough to die for us!

Easter Eggs: Promise

by Devin Dummel

This year Americans are projected to spend 14.6 billion dollars on Easter related products, a number which includes the expected 2.5 billion on Easter candy alone.  I don’t know about you, but that seems like a lot of eggs to fill and too many to hide.

Each year my boys go to their grandparents and go hunting for candy filled eggs.  With a little help from mom and dad they go home with a large bag full of sugar-packed goodies.  But the real treat comes months later – where if you’re lucky you may just find some hidden eggs with treasure left inside that were missed in the Great Easter Sugar Hunt.

Looking for Easter Eggs can be a wonderful family tradition, but in addition to being a decorated or plastic egg, an "Easter Egg" is also a term used to describe an unexpected feature in a piece of computer software, movie or a game - often included as a joke or a bonus.

Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at some of the hidden "Easter Eggs" about Jesus in the Old Testament, and what they mean for the Easter story today. Hopefully as you and your family prepare your hearts for the Easter season, you can share not just plastic eggs filled with sugary treats but hidden “Easter Eggs” found in the Old Testament scriptures that have always been pointing us to the Easter story.

If you start at the beginning of the Old Testament scriptures, you don’t have to look far to find the first “Easter Egg”.  If you are familiar with the story of Genesis, then you know it all starts when God speaks.  As God spoke the world was created from light and darkness, land and sea, plants and animals and finally humans.  God placed the humans in the middle of his perfect creation and when it was all said and done, God looked at His handiwork and rested knowing that it was good in every way.

From that moment the humans had freedom and responsibility – a dangerous combination for sure, but at the end of each day after their work was done they would walk with God in the cool of the day.  Their relationship with God was just like His creation – good, pleasing and perfect.  This is what the world was like.  We aren’t sure how long it was like this.  It could have been a day … a year … a decade, no one really knows.  What we do know is that one day it all changed.

You’ve probably heard about THAT day.  Most of us have heard someone tell the story at some point.  The day sin entered the world.  The day we started blaming each other.  The day we turned our backs on God.  The day we realized we were naked.  The day we fell.

The consequences of sin entering God’s perfect world were severe.  The full effects are outlined in Genesis 3.  But let me share some highlights.  Because of sin …

• ·      Women now feel pain in child birth
• ·      The ground became harsher, producing less
• ·      Men now have to work hard to take care of their family
• ·      Tension between the sexes was born
• ·      And death entered God’s world for the first time.

The consequences of sin are extremely regrettable.  I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t wish to overturn the terms and conditions of sin in our world.  While we are familiar with these punishments when we reflect on Genesis 3 we often forget that we weren’t the only ones who were cursed.

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

GENESIS 3:14-15

Nestled in the first curses found in scripture, tucked between the fall of humanity and Adam and Eve’s exile from God’s perfect paradise is the first “Easter Egg” pointing us to the promise of Hope we have in Jesus.

It’s easy to miss it if you don’t pay attention.  With all that’s going on in Genesis 3 it’s understandable to read over it.  But we would be wise to pay close attention to the promise that God declares even if it is found in a curse.  “I will put enmity between you and the woman ‘s offspring … he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

While the enemy may believe in the moment of “the fall” that he’s won – that he’s ruined God’s perfect creation by introducing sin and death, the reality is that he has signed his own death warrant.  The devil and all who would work against the LORD God may have won this battle, but they lost the war.

Even from this moment, from the very beginning God had planned to redeem the fallen world through the death of His Son.  While the enemy might wound Him and strike His heal.  The Son would deliver the final blow, striking the head of the enemy and declaring victory once and for all.

Jesus was never “plan B”.  In fact, the Apostle Peter tells us that “before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) Jesus was chosen to deliver God’s people from their sins.  What a wonderful treasure to find buried here in one of the hardest chapters of the Old Testament.

What the enemy meant for evil, God has redeemed through the event of Easter – through Jesus life, death and resurrection.  This week as a family, thing about how much God must love us to plan the story of our freedom in such detail, and over such a long time. 

His love is absolutely incredible.  So, no matter what you’re facing remember He has things under control.  You may feel like you have done something unforgiveable; or that God is done with you.  That’s simply not true.  The God who put an incredible plan in place for Jesus to come, loves you in spite of your sin.

Easter is a reminder of His love and His promise of hope for us all.