the point

Easter Sunday 2013 has come and gone.

Saturday we gathered with my mom's side of the family for our yearly picnic, and later 36 eggs were dunked into various shades of color for decorating.  Today my kids along with my sister's have checked out their Easter baskets, suffered through numerous photo shoots, and sought out all the chocolate and money filled plastic eggs they could find in mom's yard.  It was a delightful weekend.

But the best memory of this year's Easter celebration will be of my youngest child, chubby hands still stained with the Easter egg dye, clutching the plastic cross necklace that he received today in Sunday School as he napped.  

His excitement to share his newfound knowledge this morning with everyone, whether he knew them from previous visits to my mom's church or not still rings in my ears...

"Hey, nook!  Nook here!  See my cross?  He [Jesus] crufy.  Then he rise 'gain.  Jesus nuv me!  Jesus nuv you too!"

And there, so simply put, is the point of this holiday that often gets overlooked with all the eggs, chocolate, and goody-filled baskets.  In His infinite love for us, He submitted to the Father's will to restore our relationship with Him.  At the very moment Christ surrendered His spirit, the temple veil separating us from God was torn in two, from top to bottom.  No longer was an intercessor required, everyone, regardless of their sin, was given equal access to the Father in that moment.  Never has such a gift been given.

While Daniel doesn't yet fully comprehend the gift of Good Friday and Easter (for that matter, I still have questions and find myself learning more as my relationship with Him grows), he does know that Easter is a gift, a gift both for him and for all of humanity.  There are many details that he still will seek over the years, but today he gets that it is a miraculous, wonderful gift.  And he's excited.

May we all be filled with that same joy as we seek to understand the gift of the cross and the wonder of the empty tomb.

[He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.] ~ Matthew 28:6 (NIV)