Easter 2026: What We Should Learn From the Cross
- RD Montgomery
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Easter is the time of year we focus most on the cross, but it’s a view we should never really turn away from. The story of God’s love and the very expensive grace He gave us shouldn't just be an annual topic. It is far too important to let it grow quiet once the holiday is over.
1. God Refuses to Give Up on Us
Human history is a recurring cycle of rebellion: the initial fall in the Garden, the total moral collapse leading to the Flood, and the centuries of rejecting and murdering the prophets sent to warn Israel. Despite having every right to abandon the "humanity experiment" as a failure, God chose mercy. The cross is the ultimate evidence that God prioritizes reconciliation over abandonment, offering another chance to those who repeatedly turned away.
Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Lamentations 3:22–23: "Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Nehemiah 9:26: "But they were disobedient and rebelled against you... They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies."
Ezekiel 18:23: "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"
Additional Scriptures to Read:
The Garden (Fall): Genesis 3:1–19; Romans 5:12–14
The Flood (Corruption): Genesis 6:5–13; Genesis 7:1
Failures in the Wilderness: Exodus 32:1–6; Numbers 14:1–11; Psalm 106:13–23
Failures in the Promised Land: Judges 2:11–19; 1 Samuel 8:4–20; 2 Kings 17:7–23; 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
2. The Path of Sin Leads to Horror
The crucifixion was not a sanitized event; it was a brutal display of the consequences of human rebellion. The agony began before the first nail was driven. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, fully aware of the physical and spiritual torture awaiting Him, experienced such intense distress that His sweat became like drops of blood. This condition, known as hematidrosis, illustrates the crushing weight of the burden He was preparing to carry.
Following this, He endured a Roman scourging so severe it often exposed bone and internal organs. The cross itself was a mechanism of slow, humiliating suffocation. Jesus took this horrific death—the death we deserved—upon Himself. When we look at the cross, we should see the true cost of sin and develop a deep-seated hatred for the path that led Him there.
Luke 22:44: "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
Isaiah 53:5: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
1 Peter 2:24: "‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’"
Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Additional Scriptures to Read:
The Blessing of Obedience and the Curse of Disobedience: Deuteronomy 28:1–68
The Horror of Israel and Judah Being Overtaken: 2 Kings 25:1–21; Lamentations 2:11–22; Lamentations 4:1–10; Ezekiel 5:8–17
The Coming Horror for the Earth: Revelation 6:12–17; Revelation 9:1–12; Revelation 16:1–21
3. For God so Loved the World
Jesus did not endure the cross to establish a new set of rituals or a rigid religious institution. He died for love. The purpose of His sacrifice was to tear down the veil and reconcile us into an eternal, intimate, and loving relationship with our Triune God. It is about the restoration of fellowship, moving from being "enemies of God" to being His beloved children.
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
2 Corinthians 5:18–19: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them."
1 John 4:10: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
Additional Scripture to Read:
The Purpose of the Veil (Separation): Exodus 26:31–33; Leviticus 16:2; Hebrews 9:1–8
The Tearing of the Veil (Access Restored): Matthew 27:50–51; Mark 15:37–38; Luke 23:44–45
A New and Living Way: Hebrews 10:19–22
4. Death Was Defeated
Even though Jesus died the most significant death in human history, the grave could not claim Him. His resurrection is the victory that transforms our own end. Once our lives are firmly established in Christ, death loses its sting and its finality. Because He lives, we also live; death is no longer an ending, but a transition into the fullness of His presence.
1 Corinthians 15:54–55: "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'"
John 11:25–26: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.'"
Romans 8:11: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you."
5. What the Cross Purchased
While we remain on this cursed planet to minister to others amidst continuing trials and trouble, the cross was the transaction that purchased a comprehensive inheritance for the believer. This is not a distant hope but a current reality that provides victory, identity, and a guaranteed future.
Righteousness Outside of Ourselves: The cross achieved a standing before God that no amount of human effort could ever earn. Our sin was traded for His perfect righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
Philippians 3:9: "...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."
Victory Over Sin: We are no longer slaves to our fallen nature; the power of sin was broken at the cross.
Romans 6:6–7: "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin."
Peace That Surpasses Understanding: Even in the midst of worldly chaos, we have access to a supernatural peace that guards our hearts.
Philippians 4:7: "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
A Life Empowered by the Holy Spirit: We do not walk this path alone; we are indwelt and empowered by the Spirit of God.
Acts 1:8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
True and Defined Purpose: We are not accidents of nature; we were purchased for a specific, divine mission.
Ephesians 2:10: "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
A Source of Truth and Guidance: We have been given the Spirit of Truth to navigate the lies of this world.
John 16:13: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth."
Membership in the Kingdom and Adoption into God’s Family: We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the family of God as legal heirs.
Colossians 1:13: "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves."
Romans 8:15–16: "The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children."
The Promise That the Best is Yet to Come: Our current trials are temporary; the cross secured an eternal glory that far outweighs our present suffering.
Romans 8:18: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."
Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Easter: Your Personal Invitation
The cross is the center of everything we believe, and we have a simple, powerful way to keep that truth fresh in our minds. Taking the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, isn't just a church tradition; it’s a personal invitation from Jesus to stop and think about the huge price He paid to bring us home. As we move past the Easter season, let’s make it a habit to take Communion more often. Every time we take the bread and the cup, we are reminding ourselves that we are deeply loved, our past is forgiven, and our future is safe.
1 Corinthians 11:24–26: "And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes."
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