Easter is the beautiful reason Christ came to earth

This week, I’ve been thinking about Easter from a different angle:  “Why exactly did Jesus leave heaven and come as a man to this earth?”

I think I got it.  It’s about “the Way.”

In the hours before the crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples where He was going.  He said to them, “I am the WAY, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  (Jn. 14:6).

He came to open up a “way” to the Father.

Here is the “WHY” behind the “WAY”:

1. God was inaccessible.

If you read the Old Testament, you quickly discover that we average people had “no access” to God.

He lived behind a thickly woven veil in the Tabernacle (or later the Temple).  His radiant, glorious light hovered over the Ark of the Covenant.  You would die if you entered that “holy place” (remember Raiders of the Lost Ark?).

Only the Jewish High Priest could go through that veil once a year.  He went to sprinkle blood on the Ark’s “mercy seat,” which atoned for the sins of the entire nation.

We, however, as Gentiles and almost all of the Jewish people, had a big “NO ACCESS.”

 2. God wanted all people to be able to access Him.

Even the Jewish High Priest was a sinner.

To allow all people of all nations to access His presence at all times, He needed a perfect, sinless High Priest.

That would be His Son, Jesus.

Jesus had to be perfect.  He could not sin, not even one time in His life.  He had to be temptable but without sin.

HE MADE IT!  

On the cross, His flesh was torn, symbolizing the “veil” in the temple.  Hebrews says that exact thing:

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the NEW AND LIVING WAY that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…” (Hebrews 10: 19).

On the third day, He rose again from the dead (Easter).  

Then, He returned to heaven with His sinless blood and “opened a new and living way” (giving full access) to God Himself.

3. Jesus is now our High Priest.

Because He opened “the way” to the Father, He sits beside the throne of God to assure our “access” (keeping the “way” permanently open).

We pray confidently and boldly because we know God loves us and will answer our prayers.

“Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.... Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4: 14, 16).

That’s the beautiful reason Christ came to earth:

“The WAY.”

Permanent access.  Unlimited forgiveness.  Solid faith.  A great, merciful High Priest who is both human and divine and can feel our needs.

I love Jesus so much this Easter.  Thank you, Lord.