Due to its commercialism, I get very sentimental around Christmas time especially when I hear the first Christmas Carol over the radio or see the first Christmas decorations around the many malls around KL.
Sure, due to this commercialism, Christmas makes everyone sentimental or... greedy.
However, Easter brings about a different feeling.
Sure, it is not very commercial here because we don't see Easter bunnies and eggs as it does not bring about that "oomph" feeling, making consumers want to fork out more during this time of year, i.e. March/April.
However, in other countries, i.e. Western ones, Easter is getting to be quite commercial. Everywhere you go, you'll find pictures of bunnies, flowers, eggs all around. Besides that, there is also the big chocolate sales where people give chocolate bunnies or eggs to friends/family.
In both celebrations, the most important person is forgotten, i.e. Jesus Christ.
When you ask a young child, be they Christian or non-Christian, what they think about Christmas and they think of two things - 1) Santa Claus and 2) presents. When you ask them about Easter, most non-Christians in Malaysia would not know the significance of it. In Western countries, the child may answer 1) Bunnies and 2) Chocolate.
Some Christians feel that Christmas is a bigger celebration because it is when Christ comes into our world, small and helpless, like us. Certainly, we all identify with Christ during Christmas because during this time, He is small, helpless and we feel drawn to Him in His small, helpless form.
Easter, in fact should be a bigger celebration because it is during this time, Christ risen from death, has conquered sin and Death, thus freeing us from these shackles. It is also during this time, the Church is born because He has left us a message to perform the Eucharist as a Remembrance of Him. (Luke 22:17-19)
And from that moment, the Church which Christ has founded began and has continued to this very day. Isn't that more important than Christmas?
During Christmas, we are reminded that Christ, humbled Himself to be born a human, to live, suffer and ultimately die for us. However, during Easter or on Good Friday, Christ made the ultimate sacrifice by dying for us to set us free from our sins.
So, surely, Easter is a greater celebration than Christmas because He triumphed over Death and by doing so, brought us closer to God through a new covenant. (Romans 6:4, 1 Peter 3:18)
Anyway, all being said, I would like to wish everyone a Blessed Easter. May the Easter Joy make your souls dance for joy and hearts sing out loud, praising God!
Amen!!
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