I hope everyone is having an amazing Easter and that all of you were somewhere rejoicing that Jesus rose from the grave. There is another cultural difference we have realized here. I’ve told you about the many processionals this week that mark Jesus’s death. One missionary who has lived here in Costa Rica told us today that there is quite a time of mourning during Semana Santa and that through his years here he has been told that even children should refrain from playing loudly out of respect for Jesus. For us, buy cialis the death of Jesus is also important. Jesus died to pay for our sins in order to save us. He went through incredible agony and torture and as we celebrate Easter we reflect on how much he gave for us. But here is where the difference in culture comes. On Easter we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection, that not only did he die for our sins, but as he prophesied, he rose again and conquered even death. That part of the history is barely mentioned here. The focus is heavy on his death but almost non-existent when it comes to his resurrection. For example, hundreds of thousands of people show up on Friday for one of the country’s biggest processionals marking Jesus’s death on Friday, but only a handful of people show up at that same location on Sunday to celebrate his resurrection. Easter is about celebrating that resurrection. Jesus is not on the cross anymore. He lives! There is so much focus on his death and here you consistently see icons of Jesus on the cross, but he did not remain on the cross. We serve a living God! I hope today you are celebrating that Christ rose again, that he has saved us from the destruction we deserve if we believe in him.
“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17)
~Tona