“What is your most popular Easter egg?” I asked the lady at Darrell Lea. She pointed to a large-sized egg.

“Oh, definitely the nougat egg—the whole thing is filled with nougat!”

Sounds way too sweet, I thought. No offence, nougat fans.

For most people, Easter is a nougat egg. It’s filled with sweetness (treats and a day off work) but the actual nourishment value may be questionable.

Christians should see Easter as an opportunity to participate in evangelism—to speak nourishing words of life. The best time you could spend this holiday is to contemplate on the gospel and communicate it to others around you.

The story of Christ’s atonement and resurrection speaks powerfully to listeners, regardless of their age group or attitude. Consider:

• Each Gospel places its greatest emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus, as God intended. Everyone who considers Jesus’ life and teaching must be confronted by his cross and empty tomb.
• John Stott remarks in The Cross Of Christ, “The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us.” This is profound truth for believers, no matter how familiar you are with the event. You can never “get over” the gospel.
• No other message bears this kind of impact. It is “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The Gospel both unites and divides, challenging hearts to respond.

This season, I’ve noted again how Jesus’ death and resurrection provokes such a range of responses. We see the callous indifference of the soldiers and hear the taunts from the crowd. We sense the panic of the disciples as they flee the terrible scene.

Then you can almost feel the wonder and exhilaration when they realise the Lord is not dead but risen indeed. They practically trip over themselves to tell the good news.

I like how the Jesus Storybook Bible describes it:

Mary ran and ran, all the way to the city. She had never run so fast, or so far in all her life. She felt she could have run forever. She didn’t even feel like her feet touched the ground. The sun seemed to be dancing and gleaming and bounding across the sky—racing with her, and shining brighter than she could ever remember, in the clear, fresh air. And it seemed to her, that morning as she ran, almost as if the whole world had been made anew, almost as if the whole world were singing for joy…

Don’t waste your Easter holiday. Gaze again on the work of Christ crucified. Peer into the empty tomb. And run and sing for joy.