04/05/2026
This weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I sense the Spirit of God urging the Church to pause and remember what this moment truly represents.
Easter cannot become just another tradition, another service we attend, another holiday we move through without feeling the weight of it.
We dress up, we gather, we sing the songs, and we say “He is risen,” but the question is whether we have truly allowed the reality of the cross to touch our hearts again.
Before there was an empty tomb, there was a brutal cross.
Before there was resurrection power, there was suffering beyond what most of us could ever imagine.
The prophet Isaiah said that His appearance was so marred that He hardly looked human.
The Son of God was beaten so severely that His body was disfigured.
The Roman soldiers scourged Him with a whip designed to destroy flesh.
With every strike the leather cords wrapped around His body, and pieces of bone and metal tore into His skin.
Flesh ripped open.
Blood poured down His back.
Muscle was exposed.
The sound of the whip echoed while the Savior of the world stood there and endured it all.
He was innocent, yet He took every blow.
He did not resist.
He did not fight back.
He endured it because of love.
Then they mocked Him.
The King of Glory was surrounded by soldiers who ridiculed Him and laughed at Him.
They twisted together a crown of thorns and forced it down onto His head until the thorns pierced His scalp and blood ran down His face.
They struck Him.
They spit on Him.
They bowed in fake worship and mocked Him as King.
The One who formed the earth with His words stood there silently while the very people He created humiliated Him.
After the beating and the mockery, they forced Him to carry the cross through the streets.
His back had already been torn apart, and now the rough wood scraped against open wounds as He stumbled forward.
The crowd watched as He walked toward Golgotha.
The weight of the cross pressed down on a body already broken, yet He kept moving forward.
When they reached the place of ex*****on, they laid Him on that cross.
The hammer was lifted, and nails were driven through His hands and through His feet.
Each strike sent waves of pain through His entire body.
Then they lifted that cross and dropped it into the ground.
Every nerve in His body screamed as He hung there between heaven and earth.
Crucifixion was designed to be slow.
Agonizing.
It was not only the pain of the nails or the wounds.
It was suffocation.
Every breath required Him to push up on pierced feet and torn hands just to draw air into His lungs.
Then He would collapse again, gasping for breath.
Over and over He struggled for air while the crowd watched.
The Son of God hung there in agony, bleeding and struggling to breathe.
At any moment He could have called for angels.
At any moment He could have stepped down from that cross.
But He stayed.
He stayed because in that moment He was carrying far more than wood and nails.
He was carrying the sin of the world.
Every act of rebellion, every failure, every hidden shame was placed upon Him.
And even while He was suffering, His heart was still full of mercy.
As He hung there dying, He cried out, “Father, forgive them.”
This is why we must not rush past the cross.
We cannot skip quickly from the crucifixion to the resurrection without allowing the reality of what happened there to pierce our hearts.
The cross was not clean or polished.
It was bloody, violent, and devastating.
It was the place where the love of God was displayed in its most powerful form.
So as we approach this Easter, we must do more than go through the motions.
We must allow the cross to confront us again.
Let it humble us.
Let it remind us of the price that was paid for our redemption.
When the cross pierces your heart again, repentance becomes real, gratitude becomes deep, and worship becomes sincere.
When you truly remember what Jesus Christ endured for you, you cannot treat His sacrifice casually.
This weekend is not simply about a holiday.
It is about the moment when death was defeated and salvation was purchased with blood.
The cross demands a response.
Let it awaken your heart again.
Let it stir your gratitude again.
Let it remind you that the One who walked out of the grave first chose to endure the cross so that we could live.
-Jessica Jecker Simply Jecker
