An Easter Gift

The Easter Bunny brings baskets of goodies every year, colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps (preferrably pre-opened and a bit stale) and loads of jelly beans. When I was a kid we'd also get other little spring gifts, plastic outdoor toys, kites, frisbees, whiffle balls and bats and other fun stuff. Sometimes even the traditional basket was replaced with something more creative and usable, a sand bucket or a wagon. It was never like Christmas, but it was always exciting to get something more than candy!

I don't know why or when Easter gifts started, (or how that little bunny can carry all of that stuff) but I do know that Jesus gave an awesome gift that day and it was not just a gift of resurrection to eternal life!

One of the surprising elements of this story happens in John's version as Jesus shows up in a locked room and addresses the disciples,

“Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord! He spoke to them again and said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven." (John 20:19b-23, NLT)

Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit on Easter Day and with this awesome gift a great responsibility, forgiveness. We commonly think of the Holy Spirit coming with power at Pentecost in the book of Acts, but I like how John relates it much more practically here. In fact, the gift that Jesus gives is more about forgiveness than with power anyway. The key to living like Jesus, for John, is to be forgiving.

The greatest gift we receive from Jesus at Easter is forgiveness and the greatest gift we can give is the same. In fact that's the real power of the empty tomb, what used to convict us, judge us, send us to our death, can no longer do so because like the empty tomb, it's gone. We are forgiven.

Unless we don't forgive!

Some have misunderstood this passage, that we have been given the power to judge and if we choose, not to forgive the sins of someone. But that's not what Jesus said. Teh Message puts it this way, "If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” The New King James says, "if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In other words, you retain not forgiveness, but the guilt of not being forgiving.

The act of forgiving is an Easter gift of God. It's for us and for us to use. We don't learn to accept forgiveness unless we are willing also to forgive!

It's a gift that's only good if we give it away!

Peace ><>
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