I {heart} Easter

Easter is sort of a weird holiday...another religious occasion that has been hijacked for commercial purposes.  And really, the commercial part of it is rather creepy.  Is there a kid ANYWHERE that isn't afraid of the guy wearing the stupid rabbit suit at the mall?  Even I am afraid of him...who thought this was a good idea?  And now let's have that creepy guy in the bunny suit enter our homes in the dead of night to leave baskets filled with candy.  Shivers.  This is definitely one of those things I am happy to leave behind now that my kids are old enough to "know better" (yes, they still get baskets of candy and color eggs...but at least they don't still believe a psychopathic bunny is lurking somewhere in the dark)
And did I mention that Easter candy is evil?  It happens to be my favorite...(except for Peeps...yuck...I'd rather eat my own foot) I'm not sure why, since you'd think a chocolate santa tastes just like a chocolate egg, but they really don't.  If I buy the Easter candy too early, I swear I hear it whispering my name at all hours of the day or night, begging me to eat it.  I usually do and then end up making a last minute run to the store to replenish what I have consumed.  Shame on me.  This year I wised up and waited until the last minute to buy it.  That doesn't mean I won't give myself a stomach ache tonight while I eat as much as I hide.
But despite these things I really LOVE Easter.  It feels like the true beginning of Spring (except this year when it's still snowing for crying out loud) and an actual rebirth of everything that died during the winter.  I love going to church on Easter and I especially love the songs we sing on Easter Sunday.  This year, I was a little unhappy that General Conference fell on Easter because I felt like I was missing out on going to church (plus I like to really sit and enjoy Conference with nowhere to go and nothing to do but soak it in)...but after sitting and watching it today I felt like it couldn't have been more perfect.  I think I enjoyed it even more because Easter was on my mind, and rather than spending the day thinking about dinners and parties and all the stuff that comes with Easter, I was reminded of what it really means.
But the very best thing about Easter is that it reminds me of what the Savior did for me...We say that He took upon our sins, and He died for us...but what does it mean, really?  It sounds so glib to just say it that way, when it is actually the most important event in human history.  One of my favorite books, The Peacegiver, describes so well what happened in Gethsemane:

In order to free us from the captivity of sinfulness, he took upon himself all the sins of mankind, the iniquities of us all... This implies that in order to redeem us from the chains of sin, the Savior had to take upon himself all the chains that bind US to sin--in the words of Paul, to be 'in all points tempted like as we are.'  He had to shoulder the burden of the combined weight of the sins of the world--our sinful desires, our predispositions and addictions toward sin, our darkened hearts.  The scriptures declare that he suffered as well everything that might LEAD us to sin--our 'pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind'--so that 'he might blot out our transgressions according to the power of his deliverance.  It was as Paul said:  He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us. 

With all this sinfulness heaped upon Him, he then had to withstand the unimaginable onslaught of the entire power and fury of the forces of hell, and do so, as Paul described, 'yet remaining without sin'. For Satan knew that if he could wield the power of his captivity--the chains of our sinfulness that lay ready to bind the Savior--and entice the Savior to sin, he would bring the Savior into his captivity as well.  Then the destruction of agency would be complete, and mankind would be left without a way for their hearts to be purified and cleansed.

Is it any wonder that Satan looked up and laughed when he held the entire earth in his chains?  On this night in Gethsemane, Satan is only one sin away from holding all creation in his hand...the powers of darkness were upon Him in full force and fury.  The term Luke used to describe this assault--the Greek word agon, translated as "an agony"--means literally, 'a contest, struggle, or fight, facing an opponent.'  And that is what Gethsemane was.  It is what latter day prophets have referred to as 'indescribable anguish' and 'overpowering torture', a 'supreme contest with the powers of evil', 'an hour of anguish when Christ had to meet and overcome all the horrors that Satan could inflict'. 

And he suffered all this for US. And he does the same for all--the addict, the abuser, the chronic complainer, those whose spirits are depressed.  His struggle was for all mankind, but only because it was for each of us, individually and specifically.

But praise be to God! The Savior has withstood in the aggregate what no man has been able to withstand individually:  He refused to submit to Satan's will even though he was fully subject to it.  Even with all of the mortal effects of our sins heaped upon and pulling at Him, and with Satan and his hosts attempting to drag him down by that power to sin, the Savior was able to withstand and resist. 

The captivity of sin has been broken!  The Lord God Almighty has risen 'with healing wings.'  He stretches forth his arms to the world, feeling after them with his Holy Spirit.  He comes to each of us, pleading with us, to forgive, and literally dying to give us his Spirit and the new heart he has forged that will free us from the chains of our sins.  If we harden not our hearts and stiffen not our necks against Him, He will facilitate the breaking of our sinful, stony hearts and will give us what Ezekiel called his new 'heart of flesh', saving us from all our 'uncleannesses'.  This is the miracle of Gethsemane.