Christmas and Easter are beautiful reminders of God’s love and care for his creatures. Of course, the real meaning of Christmas can be lost in the celebration of Santa Claus or the burden of Christmas shopping. And Easter can descend to mere relief at winter’s end, or sporting of a new wardrobe and (formerly) Easter bonnets. But these festivals need not forfeit their spiritual impact or their joyful celebration of God’s goodness.
As we celebrate Easter in this issue, our thoughts turn once again to that great sacrifice on Calvary where the God of all grace took upon himself the burden of our sin and guilt so that we might be free. John Montgomery embeds the trial of Jesus in solid history. Walter Wangerin, a newcomer to the pages of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, but not to Christian literature, reenacts the substitutionary atonement in an unforgettable story. For our own day, Donald Burquest exhorts us to celebrate with joy the saving events of that first “holy week.” And please—just for once—read the Easter poems on page 28.
On quite a different theme, Frederick Herwaldt, Jr., warns us that unreal expectations for marriage are partly responsible for the rapidly rising number of divorces and broken homes. Marriages may well be made in heaven, but they are lived out here below. Finding real life less fulfilling than their romantic fantasies, marriage partners become disillusioned. They judge marriage a failure because it brought problems rather than idyllic happiness, whereas its Creator designed it as his way for them to grow toward maturity.
Unfortunately, Dostoevski failed to solve the problem of Crime and Punishment in the nineteenth century. With crime overflowing to our doorstep, the courts bogged down in endless legal frustration, reformatories transformed into schools for crime, and prisons too crowded to receive any but those so unlucky as to be unable to beat the rap, the average citizen despairingly pushes the problem out of his mind—until it strikes home. This issue also probes the hard questions of what to do when crime does strike home. How can an evangelical get a handle on this tough problem that seemingly defies all solutions?
