WORLD | An Easter Parade of essays from the past 20 years | Marvin Olasky | March 26, 2016

Today I pause to reflect on the fact that our Savior is forever risen. Here are a couple essays from the last century focused on Easter. I hope you find them as enjoyable and thought provoking as I did.
God bless you each and every one to paraphrase what Tiny Tim said in a Christmas Carol.
"Editor’s note: Jesus emerged from the tomb on Easter long ago, and in honor of that wonder we’re republishing seven Easter essays written over the past two decades by WORLD editor in chief Marvin Olasky"
"Cover-up, communication, cliffhanger, crime (1997)
Journalists generally treat the Christendom chunk of American society as terra incognita. Many reporters, sadly, have little interest in exploration. But for those who may have a few minutes to listen, here’s a quick way to explain what Christians believe, in terms any journalist should be able to understand: cover-up, communication, cliffhanger, and crime.
The cover-up: We see all around us evidence that the world was intelligently designed. None of us has enough faith to believe that everything is the product of time-plus-chance. Nevertheless, we ignore the giant headlines in the sky that proclaim: There Is a Creator. We also ignore the deep-throated whispering in our own brain: There is a Creator. That cover-up is bigger than Watergate, Whitewater, and all the other scandals put together.
The communication: It would be strange if the Creator who gave man the ability to talk and listen and read would not communicate with his desperately needy creatures. An inquiring mind would expect God to provide a Bible of some kind, and one that would last. Forget the ancient myths of nations that died out (where are Hittite scriptures now?) and there are only three main candidate religions, all 2 millennia or more old: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judeo-Christianity. Add Islam, and then suggest to reporters that they check out the scriptures of the Final Four for themselves.
The cliffhanger: Journalists—if God is opening their hearts—will be moved by the Old Testament’s powerful majesty. But its ending leaves many questions hanging. For example, did God set up the elaborate sacrificial system, and then let it disappear in A.D. 70, with nothing to take its place? Since God was not content to leave us twisting slowly in the wind, the Old Testament’s sequel answers that question wonderfully—for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
The crime: The New Testament story of an innocent man judicially murdered is big news. Other elements of the story: a brilliant and obviously sane man claiming to be the Son of God, and then suffering an execution even more gruesome (because more drawn-out) than partial-birth abortion. And don’t forget the most astounding news: After that man’s corpse is wrapped in a burial cloth and placed in a police-secured tomb, many reliable sources report that He rose from the dead, and that they walked, talked, and ate with Him.
Every journalist can appreciate a sensational story like that. Some may listen thoughtfully to the news that God came to earth to suffer with us and die for us. God’s grace determines which journalists do become Christians. But we can broadcast the Easter story to one and all, with confidence that it’s a story worth reporting."
"Julius Caesar, Jesus Christ, and amazing love (1998)
Two famous deaths around 2,000 years ago occurred during this March-April time of year. On March 15 (the Ides of March) in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated. In about A.D. 30, Jesus Christ was crucified on a day now remembered as Good Friday.
Julius Caesar died badly with a critical knife wound administered by his close friend. Brutus used illegitimate means, but he was right to oppose Caesar’s plan to make himself dictator, kaiser, czar. Mark Anthony, according to Shakespeare’s drama, was a highly successful spin merchant who turned a crowd into a mob bent on revenging Caesar’s death, but the J.C. he eulogized was not a martyr to any cause greater than his own ambition.
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, died well. Not only did He live in perfect righteousness and die in perfect humility, but on Easter we will once again celebrate the way His death led to new life as He rose from the grave. The wonderful hymn “And Can It Be” has it right: “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died he for me, who caused his pain? For me, who him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
Christ’s death was the ultimate in perfection—but we should remember that His last hours on this earth, before the Resurrection, were the ultimate in pain. Others who died well also died painfully. In Chapter 7 of Acts, Stephen, “full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Then he was stoned, and as the big rocks hit him his final words were, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” PFC Kyle Corcoran COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. MAJ David Wallace LTC (Join to see) CW5 Charlie Poulton SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas CMSgt Mark Schubert SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Sgt Joe LaBranche SSgt (Join to see) SGT Forrest Stewart SGT Robert Hawks SrA Christopher Wright PO2 Ed C.