10 Symbols of Easter

​I love this time of year as winter turns to spring and we begin to see green once again.  We feel warmth from the sun, and we are filled with excitement to get outside and get yards looking beautiful again.  Along with all of this comes Easter, a time to reflect on our Savior's sacrifice and resurrection.  How symbolic it is to celebrate Easter in the spring, for Jesus Christ is the reason that something can be dead and then green and alive again.  Jesus Christ is our sun, our light that gives us warmth and a feeling of excitement to live life to its fullest and to improve.  He is the reason beauty is possible and the reason we can blossom like a spring flower does.

The following ten items have become symbols of great meaning at Easter time for our family as we celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

​A Chain
 A chain represents all our sins, habits, thoughts, and emotions that keep us from being pure.  It represents the things in our lives that link us to Satan's grasp.  In the quiet Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ broke the chains of darkness for you and for every mortal that has lived and ever will live on this Earth.  Because He broke all those chains, He gives us power to break the chains in our lives that we may become pure and live with Him again someday.

A Heart
 A Heart represents the intense love Jesus Christ has for each one of us.  To pay the demands of justice, someone had to sacrifice for all our weaknesses and pain.  Our older Brother, Jesus Christ, loved us so much that He volunteered to be the One and then give all the glory to God, the Father.  He humbly came to Earth and lived a life of perfect love and meekness.  He then faced the ultimate sacrifice where He bled from every pore from the intense pain and suffering.  From there, He was led to the cross to suffer death.  He did all of this because He loves us.  His ability to brake the chains of sin and death was possible because of His great love for us.

A Cross
A cross to remember the final part of the Savior's sacrifice: “He was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:33). An innocent and pure man, even a God, was hung to a cross in the middle of two thieves.  Having been tormented beyond description and in much pain, He had love enough to say, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

A Nail
 A nail to remember that they did not just hang Jesus to the cross; they nailed him to the cross.  When He rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples and held out His hands and said, "Behold my hands and feet, that it is I myself" (Luke 24:39). Our perfect Lord and Savior chose to keep His nail prints as scars for us.  When we see Him, we will know without of shadow of a doubt that He truly was nailed to a cross, died, and then rose again. 

A Cloth
 A cloth to represent the Linens that they wrapped the Savior's body in.  We learn from the scriptures that they bought fine linen, the best for their Lord.  They gently wrapped His lifeless body in the linens and laid Him to rest in the tomb. 

A Rock
 A rock to represent the large stone that was rolled in front of the opening of the tomb. The tomb was sealed and guarded that no man may enter in.  However, no guard can stop God's work from progressing, for on the third day, an angel came and rolled back the stone.

An Empty Easter Egg
 An empty egg reminds us that on the third day, the tomb was empty, for Jesus Christ had broken the chains of death and resurrected!  He was alive! He had power enough to overcome physical death and live again.  Not only did Christ save us from dying spiritually, but he saved us from physical death, for someday, we will all rise from the dead and be whole, all because of Him.

Bread and a Sacrament Cup
 And now, thousands of years since that time in history, we take a small piece of bread and a small cup of water each week to remember Him. We take the bread to remember His body; we take the water to remember His blood.  As we take these emblems, we can be cleansed and commit to follow Him, the one who loved us, the one who saved us.
 
A Cotton Ball
 A cotton ball to represent the clouds that Jesus Christ will someday come in, for He shall truly come again; He has said, "Behold, I will come; and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels" (D&C 45:44).  May we draw near unto our Savior, Jesus Christ, so that when we meet Him face to face, He will know us, and we will know Him, and it will be a glorious reunion.
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"And then shall the Jews look upon me and say: What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them; These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.  I am he who was lifted up.  I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God" (D&C 45:51-52).
Happy Easter!