“At the cross God wrapped his heart in flesh and blood and let it be nailed to the cross for our redemption.” – E. Stanley Jones
Happy Easter. Today is Easter Sunday and Christians all over the world are celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. If we humans were perfect, there would have been no reason for Christ’s immense suffering, crucifixion and death. But we all are far from perfect, in big and little ways, and we, therefore, are in need of redemption. It is axiomatic that there can be no redemption without sacrifice.
On a personal level, if we have wronged someone, hurt their feelings or done some damage to something of theirs, we must sacrifice a bit of our ego and suffer the humiliation of sincerely apologizing. This is an expression of our love for that person. The greater the injury we have done to others, the more our sacrifice requires. The closer we are to those we have hurt, the more earnest our sacrifice should be.
Families provide the best examples of how we can understand why Jesus voluntarily suffered torture and death to redeem our less than pure souls. How many of us who are parents would not willingly give up our own lives if it meant saving the lives or relieving the suffering of our children? Or our parents and siblings, and friends, for that matter? Real love enables us to bare any sacrifice. When looked at from the illumination of the family light, it is a little easier to understand. God created us and we are his children.
The biblical citation from John 3: 16-17, is “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”.
While we are watching our children and/or grandchildren search for Easter eggs, while we are eating our Easter dinner, let us remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us. And while we are at it, let us give a prayer of thanks for those who are forfeiting time with their own families and friends while they are protecting us as first responders or those in our military fighting to protect us from the evil regime in Iran. A prayer for their safety is more than appropriate.
