Easter Countdown: Something Different

Today we’ll take a break from Southern California real estate to look at Easter, an inspiring event which helps Blair & I keep some perspective in even the craziest market.

Easter comes early this year, and 2008 is one year we could all use some inspiration as early as possible!

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection provides hope, joy, perspective, and lessons in love, forgiveness, grace and endurance. Many Christians traditionally use the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday as a period for prayer, repentance, and various levels of fasting. I think even folks who aren’t especially religious can benefit from contemplating the final weeks of Jesus life. (And any anti-Semites should remember all the main characters, including Jesus, were Jewish, but those who actually crucified him were Romans.)

In the weeks leading up to Easter, I usually try to read through and meditate on the Biblical accounts of the events of Holy week. Much of Jesus’ teaching related to trusting in God, dying to self, and loving God and others. In the last week of his earthly life, Jesus lived out these teachings magnificently. I’ve grown much from spending time reflecting on these events.

So, with 17 days remaining until Easter, may I suggest a mini-lenten series of readings on the life of Christ? Actually, a choice of two: A read-through of all of Mark’s fast moving Gospel, or of the last half of Matthew’s more detailed Gospel.

In either case, it’s a simple matter of reading a chapter a day, about the length of a sports’ columnist’s article. I do recommend a time of prayer before and of meditation, application, and prayer after. Can’t say I’ve ever used that approach with T.J. Simers’ column in the L.A.Times.

I prefer using a version of the Bible that’s in language I understand easily, which isn’t the King James Version in my case. Lately I’ve been using the English Standard Version, which is available online. If you click on this link, it will take you to a search page–just type in “Mark 1″ or “Matthew 12,” and the chapter will appear.

If you want an emphasis on action over sermons, I’d recommend the Gospel of Mark, which was written by a younger associate of St. Peter around 60 A.D., based largely on Peter’s first-hand recollections. (I majored in Roman History at UCLA, so that sort of thing is important to me.) If you subtract 8 from the date, you’ll read through all 16 chapters of Mark from this Sunday, March 9 (9 – 8 = chapter 1), through Easter, March 23, if you subtract 7, you can start tomorrow (Saturday) & will finish with the resurrection story the Saturday before Easter.

If you’d also like to pick up some of the lectures of Jesus too, then I recommend Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew was one of Jesus 12 closest disciples, and this is his first hand account, also written around 60 A.D. He was originally in the accounting field, actually a hated tax-collector for Rome who Jesus reached out to. If you want to end with the resurrection on Easter Sunday, just add 5 to the date and read a chapter a day (for example, if you start this Saturday, March 8, 8 -5 = chapter 12.)

If you’re a bit of a skeptic about how accurate the Gospels are, just click this link for a fairly concise summary. If you want to investigate the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, click here, or here or here.

Regardless of your religious or non-religious persuasion, we wish you a joyful celebration over the next several weeks, and continuing growth throughout the crazy year ahead.