Easter – The Great Rescue

All our guests were involved in this unlikely Easter drama.  International graduate students and visiting scientists, several of whom have not heard about Jesus, joined our family Easter celebration.  As my husband drove into our driveway with some guests in the van, they noticed two cats jump out from our egress window well, obviously startled by the approaching motor.  Investigating why those cats were in the window well, they saw a baby bunny in one corner with its head burrowed and its white tail up in the air.  There are bushes on either side of the well; we guessed that the hunters and the hunted must have all fallen into the window well while in the midst of a frantic chase. 

Trapped

It was obvious that the van scared the cats in the nick of time or the baby bunny would have been lunch for the domesticated hunters.  The rest of the drama unfolded as the guests and everyone in the house came out to watch my husband go down into the window well, which was about 4 feet deep, catch the panicked baby bunny and set it free.  The spontaneous cheers and clapping probably scared the bunny even more as it instantly scurried away as soon as its legs hit the ground above the well.  

To Live in Freedom

At the heart of Easter is the greatest rescue of all.  Trapped in sin, there is no way out for each of us – no matter what we say, think or do – we all face the wages of sin, which is sure death.   Dante’s, “Abandon hope all ye who enter here,” is an accurate label over our lives and destiny as sinners.  But in God’s infinite love for us His children, in His absolute mercy for us in our predicament, in His utter compassion for us in our helplessness, He came down – not only to save us from total destruction,  but also to restore us to freedom to live as His sons and daughters.

Jesus Saves

After enjoying a selection of main entrees (some guests do not eat pork, some do not eat beef, some only eat plants) and lots of pies and Easter eggs for the children, we shared with the guests the significance of the Greatest Event of the Church, Easter –  Jesus is risen from the dead, is alive today and invites each one to live with Him.  Jesus, whose name means “God saves,” invites all people, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.”  (John 11:26)

Easter Life

The drama of the Easter bunny that everyone witnessed when the guests arrived portrayed more clearly and more powerfully for all of us what our human condition was before the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus.  We all understood the imminent danger the bunny was in with the ravenous cats poised with their deadly claws and powerful pounce.  We were all relieved to see the bunny unscathed and overjoyed that it ran away free to live its bunny life.  After we bid our guests farewell and while walking to cars in the driveway, the children and some guests went by the egress window well to peer into it once more.  It was empty.