Easter is a day of triumph: with His Resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered death and opened the eternities for all of God’s children. Additionally, through His sacrifice, Jesus paid the price for sin and made repentance and forgiveness possible and attainable. The events of that first Easter marked a decisive end to the battle for the souls of all humanity—death and sin were beaten. Of course, for those of us who are living roughly two thousand years after that triumphant day, it’s obvious that Christ’s victory did not mark the end of God’s work or of Christ’s role in bringing about our salvation. Jesus did not conquer death and then retire to a cottage in the stars. History and life marched on, and Christ’s committed work continues.
That is, Jesus did not just rise again to spend some time teaching His disciples a few final lessons before moving on to bigger and better things. He remains personally and individually involved in the work of saving every living soul. He has made His ongoing commitment clear through modern revelation, saying, “Lift up your hearts and be glad, for I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the Father; and it is his good will to give you the kingdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:5); “Behold, and hearken…saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted” (Doctrine and Covenants 62:1); and, “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:3). Again and again, He has declared that He continues to work on our behalf. To say that He lives is not just to express faith in His historical Resurrection—it is also to express the knowledge that He still lives and helps God’s children.
More particularly, Jesus has continued to affirm His role as our advocate with the Father. Anciently, advocates were something like attorneys, representing their clients in legal proceedings in order to secure positive outcomes for them. More recently, we see individuals and organizations working as advocates to secure rights and privileges for the disadvantaged. So, when Christ calls Himself our advocate, we see that He is still hard at work to ensure that good things come to us—especially the good things of redemption and perfection.
So, like many holidays, Easter is a celebration of a historical event. But, unlike many holidays, the celebration is not confined to history. We are not just commemorating the sacrifice of noble soldiers or the innovation of wise leaders—we are acknowledging the ongoing life and advocacy of our Savior and Redeemer. He did not just fight a battle to make freedom available for future generations—He conquered sin and death and assumed the role of advocate from then on. Imagine if the same soldiers who had won a nation’s freedom hundreds of years ago were still fighting to preserve it today.
It’s easy to imagine that Christ’s atoning sacrifice resulted in the creation of a valuable resource, as if Jesus built something that we could all use if we wanted to (but no pressure). But it’s clear that Jesus’ role is far more active than that. He did not just create a passive resource for our benefit, He has involved Himself in an unending labor to help each one of us to find the eternal happiness and peace that He enjoys. When we struggle or stumble, He does not offer us a prerecorded message pointing us to His past achievement. Instead, He actively advocates for us now, pleading our cause and fighting, even still, the battles that we cannot fight.
So yes, we can use Easter to look back on an unparalleled and inspiring historical event. But we can also take the opportunity to look around and to look ahead: the miraculous conclusion of Christ’s mortal ministry marked the continuation of His eternal ministry. He still lives, and He is still our advocate. Accordingly, He will stand with us through the end of our mortal journey and then into the eternal life that He has won for us. The significance of Easter, like Christ’s life and redeeming work, is still ongoing—and that is a celebration that transcends time and place to resonate with eternity.
Casting Mites 