April 9, 2025 | by Shannon Abbey
Easter Season is upon us, and as much as I love Christmas and all its festivities, Easter might just be my favorite holiday.
Yes, I love that it’s spring, which means snow is melting, birds are singing, sap is flowing, the sun is shining, and flowers are blooming. But it’s more than that. As I consider what Easter means, my heart swells and tears come easily as I rehearse the amazing things God has done.
Easter celebrates the fact that Jesus completed the mission given to him by his Father.
He rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey and was hailed as the Messiah by the Jewish people, only to be crucified by this same crowd five days later.
He washed the feet of his 12 disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper with them, all the while knowing that his betrayer was seated at the table.
He prayed his heart out in the Garden of Gethsemane, pleading with his Father to not have to face the cross.
But Jesus did.
He submitted himself completely to the will of his Father and went to the cross to pay for the sins of his people. “For our sake he made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).”
That’s amazing.
My three favorite words in the Bible are, “It is finished.” Jesus said this right before he died, because that’s what he did. He finished what he came to do. He crushed the head of the serpent. He paid the penalty for sinners. He purchased people from every tribe, tongue, and nation for himself. And he rose from the dead, proving death had no power over the one who came to defeat it.
Why did he do it? Because he loves his people.
Jesus the Son, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, didn’t need us to be relationally fulfilled. But God chose to redeem a people for himself so that we could enter into an intimate relationship with him with no sin, only love. Mind blown.
That’s Easter. That’s what we celebrate, and that’s why my heart is full during Passion Week as I think about who Jesus is, what he did, and the fact that he did it because he loves me and wanted me for his own.
One of my favorite Easter songs is Keith and Kristen Getty’s “Christ Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed.” It ends like this:
He’s alive! He’s alive!
Heaven’s gates are opened wide!
He’s alive! He’s alive!
Now in heaven glorified!
Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection threw the gates of heaven wide open for anyone who would repent of their sins and trust in him. And Jesus is now in heaven in a glorified state preparing a place for his people. If you know Christ and that doesn’t make your heart sing, nothing will!
What Jesus did is incomparable. He is Lord and King, and deserves our worship and our very lives. I love Easter because I get to celebrate these truths with my church family with joy, peace, and an eager anticipation of someday seeing Jesus face-to-face and spending eternity celebrating our Redeemer.
About Shannon Abbey
Shannon and her husband, Eric, live in Vermont. Eric is as an associate pastor at Christ Memorial Church, and Shannon homeschools three of their four children and serves the church as a women’s ministry leader. The couple is preparing for Eric to lead a church plant in nearby Burlington in the fall of 2025. Shannon loves to read, hike as often as possible, and meet with ladies over coffee.
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