Easter... Moving from "how?" to "why?"
Our human nature seems to have a need to continually figure out how things work. Okay, it's maybe not everyone, but for most people we want to take things apart or somehow get a better understanding of how something actually works. My kids continually ask questions about the world in which we live - whether its how a moon goes from full to a thin sliver (there's a technical name for that), or how God hears the prayers of so many people on the planet, or how a plumbing system works in the house (yes, one asked that). Being a bit of a woodworker, whenever I go into a wood furniture store I'm continually looking underneath to see how a piece is put together.
In John chapter 3, Nicodemus was consumed with "how" - "how are these things possible?" he asked Jesus in verse 9. Jesus had introduced him to some ideas of what a personal relationship with the living God was like that challenged all of this well respected and well educated man's ideas of what God was like. Jesus then goes on to say some of the most familiar and powerful words in scripture - "For God so loved the world..." This simple, life changing verse gets at the core of the "why" of Easter - that God loves us more than we'll ever understand and his desire is that all people would have a full and eternal life in relationship with the living God.
Sometimes we get hung up with the "how" question when it comes to God in our lives. Often times if we're honest - I think it's just a diversion. I truly think that was part of it for Nicodemus. When God enters into our lives in some personal way that shakes up our understandings - it can get uncomfortable. The love and grace of God can do that. Why did Jesus willingly suffer and die for such evil and rebellious people - including me? Why does God never give up on me? Why would the God who created the entire universe want a personal relationship with me? It's these important "why" questions that will change our lives forever.
As you celebrate Easter this year - move past the "how" diversions and let the "why" questions seep into your very soul in a new way.