The Reverend Doc's OpEd: Folks, We've Lost the Plot
The British say it, so therefore I can too.
It’s Easter Week. Did you know that?
I didn’t.
I called my mom to wish her a happy “Jesus is a-risen” day on Sunday (as in…four days ago) and she quickly informed me that I, the ever humble and gracious Reverend Doc, was absolutely positively wrong.
If that isn’t an incredibly startling realization as to how 2025 has been treating me and my household, I’m not sure what is.
But listen, I’m not gonna go into detail about my life because this isn’t some dumb cooking blog where you’re just trying to get the soup recipe, but the blogger decides to go into an unnecessary in-depth description of their backpacking trip through Paraguay seven years ago (even though it has nothing to do with the soup).
No, I am kind. You get the soup recipe immediately.
Metaphorically.
Here’s the dealio, folks:
I know that somewhere out there, my husband is thinking I am about to go on my usual Easter tangent of “HE DIDN’T RESURRECT ON SUNDAY!!!!”
BUT, GUESS WHAT HUSBAND! I AM NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT IT!
…yet (lol).
I think Easter (and Passover) is 10/10, but a lot of us have gotten a bit lost.
Not lost as in we’re confused, but lost as in we aren’t fully understanding the point. The Brits like to say “oi, you’ve lost the plot,” which is precisely what I’m talking about. We’ve lost the plot about what Easter reeeeeeally is trying to tell us. We know Jesus was crucified, died and resurrected, but…what about it?
Let’s go Back to Basics with what we know about Easter:
Jesus claims to be the Son of God.
He spends the majority of His time alive fulfilling prophecy after prophecy, including unspoken cultural ones that only Rabbi’s and other people like Rabbi’s were aware of (oh don’t worry, we are ABSOLUTELY going over that in the future).
Jesus was betrayed by one of his friends (He knew He would be betrayed by Judas waaaaaay before becoming his friend and was his friend despite knowing it…just a little something to tickle your brain).
The ever famous Pontius Pilate (pronounced pawn-tee-ahs pill-ah-tas, NOT Ponchas Pilot) didn’t really want to kill him, but the crowd wanted it and he fell victim to the infamous Peer Pressure™ that our middle school teachers warned us about.
Jesus was then crucified on a wooden cross, meaning He was nailed (literally) to said cross so that His death would be slow and full of torment.
After taking His final breath, the earth shook and rocks split causing chaos that could/would only be seen as supernatural.
“Surprise! I’m not dead!” - Jesus, three-ish nights later.
Seems simple enough, right?
Here’s where it gets a little fuzzy in our heads. We think, “wow, Jesus died for us to save the world and allow us to get into Heaven! Cool! John 3:16!”
If you ever went to any kind of church camp or had a Grandma that would thump you on the head with a Bible, I’m sure you know John 3:16, but have you read the following verses as well? Allow me to give you a smidge of context to the ever-famous verse:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him…and this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:16-17,19)
We know about sin, obviously. It’s sin. It’s bad intentions. It’s wanting something you don’t need or shouldn’t have. It’s anything that takes the spark from your eyes or the light from your heart. Sin = bad.
Jesus came to extinguish the flames of sin from our bodies. He came to scrub off the burn marks and the calloused knees of those who have felt like they had nowhere else to turn.
We all seem to understand that bit, but here is the point where we get lost:
Why did Jesus have to die in order to accomplish this?
It’s clear that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore God (because Trinity)…
So why couldn’t He have just snapped His magical God fingers and done it without dying? Without suffering?
A few years ago, I was at a coffee shop studying for some dumb exam when I saw a mother not paying attention to her toddler. My spidey-senses were immediately tingling and I felt like I needed to get up (I can’t really explain why I did other than blaming it on a little God nudge). Well…can you guess what happened? Her toddler ran into the road and because I was obedient in God nudging me, I was able to grab the toddler before anything horrible happened.
In this moment, I didn’t consider what could happen to me. My immediate reaction was to run head first into danger to save this toddler, no matter the cost. I knew what could happen, but I placed this little life high above mine when I made that choice.
You get where I’m going with this?
You’re right when you say that Jesus didn’t have to die for you. He didn’t. He could have snapped His magical God fingers and accomplished the same feat…but what kind of impersonal God is that? That’s not a God that answers your prayers or allows you to have free thought and make your own choices. That’s a God who is complacent.
Our God, our Jesus, showed us sacrificial love. One that is unrepentant. One that has no second thoughts before dying to save you.
So yeah, you’re right. He didn’t have to.
He wanted to.
There’s a difference.
He didn’t want to because the world was unjust or a bad place. He wanted to because He cared about you enough to prove His love.
Something to think about this week.
P.S. Jesus died on a Wednesday and woke up on Saturday. OKAY, BYE!
I know you used the phrase, "The British say it, so therefore I can too.", but did you have to use Mr. Bean' photo? ARGGGHHHH!