In Macedonian, Easter is literally translated, "The Great Day." I love that. What I hate is that only a handful of people really understand, have really tasted, why it is so great. The weekend of Easter is always a good one--full of opportunities to point to the crucified and risen Lord. Because we live among an Orthodox people, they take this holiday very seriously. It is one of the biggest weekends of the year, and every day is full of traditions that have been past down for centuries. They start on Thursday morning. Before the sun rises, they get up and dye eggs red to symbolize the blood of Jesus. There are some people who do green eggs, blue eggs, purple eggs, etc, but those people are often regarded as less spiritual than those of their devout counterparts who only do red eggs. They do not hide the eggs around the yard for the children to run around and find for a prize. No, this is serious. No games allowed. Friday is normally very quiet. Some people go to the church to light candles. Many people take their dyed eggs to the church to be blessed by the priest. One lady told me she takes her eggs and socks to be blessed for good health. Mothers and grandmothers wipe the dyed egg on the faces of the children so that they will have good health. Brian went to the church building on Friday with a friend. There was a table full of eggs and people crawling under it three times. He asked his friend why they were doing that, and he said, "For good health." He wasn't sure but he said that the table, which is put out only out on Friday, represented Jesus's grave and that is why they passed under it.
Here is the table that gets set out on Friday
Easter Saturday is also a relatively quiet day around town. Some people are out buying new clothes (another "healthy" tradition). Others are buying their meat for Sunday lunch. I, too, ran to the butcher shop Saturday to grab something yummy for our Easter dinner and there was a line out the door. Everyone was waiting to buy their lambs. There were whole, skinned lambs hanging from the ceiling. Lambs were being chopped into pieces and hauled out the door to meet their destiny on a platter. You think that is gross, you should've tried smelling it. It was almost enough to make me forego meat altogether for the rest of my life. I stuck it out, and thought how very appropriate it all was. I asked one lady why everyone eats lamb on Easter. I was testing, just to see what her answer would be. Maybe she would get it. Her answer wasn't surprising. "Tradition. For good health."
It was cold and rainy, so we stayed inside the rest of the day. It was a great time as a family. On Friday we read the story of the crucifixion and tried to read at the time increments that were given in the Bible. Kate kept a watch on the clock for us so we wouldn't miss reading about every event on the cross. We all stopped what we were doing at noon and 3 P.M. to read about what happened at that time on that dark and glorious day almost 2,000 years ago. We, even the four and six year old, were able to stay focused on the price that Jesus paid for us that dark Friday. We listened to "Jesus in My Place" by Matt Papa several times all throughout the day, and we talked about the giver of life, laying down his life so that we can have life abundantly. That's what it is about. Sure, we want good health. We sometimes even pray for it. But Jesus came that in our fleshly sufferings, there is hope. The question I am compelled to ask everyone here is what if Jesus died so that we could have more than good health? I'm talking holiness, righteousness, LIFE! Maybe we get do sick with a cold or the flu or something way worse. It doesn't change the fact that Jesus died to give us abundant life so that in life or in death we KNOW we are His. This light momentary affliction is creating for us an eternal weight of glory. Why? How? Because of the cross of Christ through the resurrection!
A neighbor gave me these eggs Sunday morning (per tradition).
Исус Воскресна. Вистина Воскресна.
"Jesus is Risen. Truly He has risen."
This is what you say when you greet someone the three days after Easter. I love it, but again, most do not know why it matters. Praise the Lord this is an open door to tell them of the power of the cross and resurrection of Jesus and how it can change their life forever.
Leading believers in worship of our risen Lord.
Sunday we spent the day with believers in our city and in the city nearby. It was a fantastic time of worship and fellowship. I basically felt like dancing all day. Y'all, Jesus is alive!!! Let's get excited! The next few days, we were in homes of close friends making the most of this opportunity of 'The Great Day' to talk about why it is so great--why every day is so great because Jesus paid the price for our sins. He did it all. He finished the work. He satisfied the wrath of God. He died a criminal's death. He died the death that I deserved. He covered my sins. He was buried. But, then, He arose. He's alive!!! And he has made me alive together with him!!! Good health or not, my Jesus, my Savior, my Lord, he did it all and then he called me His own to the glory of God the Father! We're pretty excited about it! It really does make every day great!
"This is life. This is grace. Jesus in my place."
