On Good Friday, some people will question what Easter is all about. They may think that Easter involves chocolate in the form of an egg or rabbit. But Easter revolves around the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Good Friday is dedicated to remembering his death, and Easter Sunday his resurrection.

But why is Jesus’ death so important that we dedicate a whole holiday to it every year on Good Friday? Jesus’ death is significant because through it we are saved from our sins and have eternal life in heaven.

But do we need saving from sin? Yes. We are all sinners and so all need to be saved from sin.  Ecclesiastes tells us: ‘There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins’ (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Now you may say, ‘That’s the Bible’s opinion, but I am not a sinner.’ Oh, but you are. And the fact that you are telling yourself that you’re not, illustrates the point – you’re adding to your sin by lying about your true state. Whereas if you were honest, you would admit that you are not as good as you should be.

But shouldn’t you get to go to heaven for at least the good that you do, even if you do sin at times? No. Good works do not outweigh bad works. Even children understand this. Suppose a child was always obedient at school but then one day punched another child in the school playground. Despite the child’s (and parent’s!) possible protests, the child needs to be disciplined just as if they had regularly punched other children in the playground. The other children (and parents) would demand it – there should be no special treatment simply because of a good track record.

So it is with us and God. When we sin once, we deserve to be punished. No amount of good works before or after the sin will make up for that stain against our name. That is why Christ needed to die if we are to be rewarded with heaven. He needed to take our punishment for us so that our sins could be washed away by his blood.

But how does Jesus’ death apply to you? You need to accept it by turning away from your sin and trusting that Jesus died for your sins. And if you do that, you will have a far better Easter than any amount of chocolate will bring.

Joel Radford.