Easter rabbits. Easter parades. Easter bonnets and dresses and shoes. Chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps, Cadbury eggs ... belly aches. Where, exactly, is Jesus to be found in the midst of all this frippery? Our whole culture conspires to obscure just what this holiday is all about.

Jesus won't be visible at the shopping malls this year, no-though chances are good that you'll be able to find an eight-foot-tall white rabbit lurking about. Even our schools (which used to observe Easter Vacation) now celebrate something much less holy, something much more debased: Spring Break. Seems like even the use of the word "Easter" is becoming increasingly forbidden, as if the very mention of the word could stir up some half-forgotten memory of something wonderful and holy and mystical, something touched with some kind of otherworldly magic.

Just what is it that our culture is trying to blot out? What is it that the enemy of our souls wishes that we would just forget?

Only the most important event in the entire history of humankind! More important than the Incarnation (than Christmas, that is). More important than even the Crucifixion. Though these events are critical to God's plan of redemption, and certainly, the Resurrection could not have taken place without them, Christmas and the Cross must take second place in the calendar of the Church.

The Apostle Paul said these words concerning the Resurrection of Jesus: "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). Notice he did not say, "If Christ was not born" or "If Christ had not died, you are still in your sins." No, the whole matter hinges on the event of the Resurrection. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then our faith is futile, yours and mine, and we are still in our sins-so says the Bible.

The same issue exists when it comes to the subject of our faith. It's no hard thing to believe that once upon a time, a little Jewish boy was born whom we have come to know as Jesus. Nearly everybody believes that. And it's also no big deal to believe that He suffered a particularly cruel form of Roman torture known as crucifixion, and that it killed Him. That happened to lots of the Jewish rabble in those days. But ... raised from the dead? That's the issue that separates the men from the boys, as it were, or rather the Christian believers from the heathen and the pagan.

Romans 10:9 says this: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." See? There it is! The crux of the whole matter.

And that's just the thing that no self-respecting American in this materialistic, scientific, skeptical age can believe ... without the special help of the Holy Spirit.

So what does the devil want from Easter? Definitely not that people would be remembering and celebrating the Resurrection of the Christ, or even just wondering whether they really believed such a thing ever happened. Far better to give the masses what they want. Chocolate for the youngsters! Bikinis for the teens! Baseball season for the men, and pretty dresses for the women!

And just what is it that the masses want? -those people who need nothing more than they need to hear about the merciful Savior of their souls? Well ... what they want is this: chocolate, and bikinis, and baseball, and pretty dresses. A match made in heaven ... or not.

Let's not be those people, shall we? Let us be counted among those who name the name of Jesus boldly, who worship Him reverently, who believe in Him wholeheartedly.

I'm not begrudging you your Easter bonnets and holiday hams. I might even bite the head off a chocolate bunny myself. But let's put the first thing first, and give a place of honor to the One most honorable.

Jesus Christ purchased our forgiveness at the Cross. But He didn't just die ... He rose! And by His resurrection from the dead, He showed that He is the victor over death itself, and the Author of eternal life for every one who believes. Hallelujah!