Easter Eggs

I'm sure today that all kind of eggs are getting hidden for Easter, whether they are hard-boiled, or chocolate, or candy filled, I'm sure there are children all over the place getting ready to hide or find those eggs. "Easter eggs" are also those nifty hidden features included in computer programs, usually in games.

But there are "easter eggs," or little nifty things that sometimes pop out at me from the Bible. One "easter egg" that blew my mind a while back is this: 1st Corinthians 11:23-26

I think this is what blew my mind: Jesus gives thanks for the bread. That bread is a symbol of his body, his life, and the fact that he is about to sacrifice both by being crucified.

Maybe my interpretation is imprecise, but in the New International Version, there is this "easter egg." When this was read aloud during Sunday morning worship a few months ago, I realized that as Jesus gave thanks for the bread, he was giving thanks for something else.

Jesus was giving thanks for the chance God had given him--the chance to come to Earth, to be "pierced for our transgressions," and to be "crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5). Because of this we are saved.

But how many of us could be like Jesus, and give thanks for the opportunity to lose something precious to us? How many of us could be like Jesus, and even give thanks for the opportunity to lose our lives?

Today, we celebrate the fact that Jesus did not simply lay down his life, he took it up again. We celebrate that our Savior could die and come back to life again (John 10:17-18)

Happy Easter!