Christ has risen indeed! Yesterday we celebrated Easter, and every year the holiday seems to come at one of the most busy points of the year, but this year I really tried to take time in the spare moments I had to contemplate the meaning and purpose of the holiday. Christ conquering death in the final act against slavery to sin and the wages of sin, allowing the very people that crucified Him days earlier to enter into relationship with God the Father.

The story is clear cut, and taught virtually the same way throughout all translations of the Bible, churches, and even word of mouth. It doesn’t have a lot of plot twists and turns and is one of the most straight forward stories I have ever heard, yet every year despite the simplicity of the story, I manage to overlook the holiday for what it is. We are forgiven in and through Jesus Christ and can now enter into relationship with God the Father!

This year I took some time to really think about what that means, and I kept being awestruck by one fact of the story that seems to elude me every time I hear it, and that is that Jesus was man. That’s not to say that I didn’t know that Jesus was a man, but rather, I never let it sink in until recently that Jesus was a man, like you and me. I think we too often compromise the reality of historical figures when we learn about them through scripture and text. Somehow, the people in the stories become less real to us, almost as if they are just a character that exists only when we happen to be reading their story. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus was real, He drank the same water you and I drink today, watched the tide go in and out of the same oceans, climbed the same mountains, walked on the same ground. Jesus was man! Jesus was and is our King!

His time here on earth was not defined by the castles He built or the wars he fought and won, but rather by the ways in which He humbled Himself and placed Himself in positions of servitude rather than authority, and through doing so gained the trust and respect to speak into those people’s lives as a figure of authority. Authority and respect as a by-product of servitude; who would’ve thought? A King who’s sole purpose was not to exalt Himself, but to serve His people according to the Father’s will.

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)

Jesus’ life perfectly demonstrates humility as a by-product of love for the Father and for His people. The perfect King. A King who’s life was real, and not only that, but completely based on Love-driven humility and servitude. This year I want to take one thing away from Easter and it is that Jesus was real, His life was real, His death was real, and His teachings were and still remain real today, and it was all to bring us into a closer, more real relationship with God the Father.