Easter — Jesus’ sacrifice in life…
03/23/2008
I think many of us, yours truly included, have an understandable tendency to limit our thoughts about the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf to the spectacular nature and drama of his death, his crucifixion. After all, he died so we might live. And what greater sacrifice can a man make but to give his life for his friends?
In recent years, however, I’ve started looking at the daily miracles around me through much smaller eyes, more precisely through the eyes of my little girl, now eight years old. Her eyes may be smaller than mine, but what she sees through them as an eight-year-old child is doubtless much bigger than what I see through my 55-year-old adult counterparts. And of our two worlds, hers is simply much bigger, more wondrous, and much less fearful than mine — guaranteed.
So I’d like to borrow her eyes just long enough to rephrase the question, to shift the emphasis away from Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, his death, to his life instead: What did Jesus give up in life? And what does it mean to me?
Jesus was the indisputable Son of God, this much we know. It’s safe to assume, therefore, that Jesus had the power at his disposal to raise great armies and vanquish enemies with the wave of his hand. He didn’t do that. It’s safe to assume that Jesus had the power to amass riches beyond anyone’s ability to imagine. But he didn’t do that either. Safe to assume that Jesus had the power to compel everyone to love him, and likewise safe to assume that he had the power to deliver and enforce justice for all time. He didn’t do any of these things.
It seems to me, therefore, that the sacrifices Jesus made on our behalf during his life were all lessons in restraint and moderation; the things he didn’t do were as important as the things he did do. And almost all of the things that he did do — even the miracles he performed — were little things, little kindnesses at the behest of little people. So here’s my final answer to the question, “What does Jesus’ sacrifice mean to me?” It means that I have a God-given responsibility to show restraint and moderation in all things, especially in those circumstances that grant me power and authority over others, and it means that the great lessons of life come to us in little packages that require only the miracle of little kindnesses to flourish…
Thank you and God bless, this Easter and always…
The thoughts, theories, and discussions herein are predicated on those found in my latest book, Put God First: A Pocket Guide to Quality of Life in the Great Age of Excess. Click here to read the Preface and Introduction (requires Adobe Reader 4.0 or above).
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