Real Life Answers

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ

For much of the religious world, today marks the beginning of the holiest time of the year–Good Friday and Easter for Christians and (at sundown) Passover for Jews. What is Easter about? Easter commemorates and celebrates the self-sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The events we remember at Easter are the culmination of Jesus’s ministry and mission. It was during this time that he was proclaimed the Messiah, the Son of God, that he took upon himself the sins of humanity, that he willingly gave up his life, and that he was resurrected on the third day.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as part of the Bible Videos series, has produced a powerful (and in places quite graphic) depiction of the events surrounding Easter, including the Last Supper, the great intercessory prayer, the betrayal, scourging, and crucifixion of Christ, and the resurrection. You may not want to have your three-year-old watch it with you.

It is because of these events that we believe all humanity will live again beyond this life and that each person may be redeemed from his or her sins and made whole. In short, the events of these few days are the basis for our faith and hope, and for us the most important in the history of the universe.

Please click here for another article about Easter.

This morning we recreated for our kids one of my favorite Easter traditions from growing up. Instead of waking up to a basket filled with eggs and candy left by the Easter Bunny, our kids re-enacted the scene at the Garden Tomb on that first Easter Sunday, complete with an angel in a polka-dot dress and an igloo-shaped dome tent filling in for the Tomb.  (Don’t worry–our kids aren’t TOO deprived–we just bumped the Easter Bunny festivities up one day, so they got their fill of peeps and chocolate rabbits yesterday) We read the account of the scene at the Garden Tomb from each of the four Gospels, but my favorite is John 20 (especially John making sure the reader knows that he’s a faster runner than Peter–he even mentioned it twice!).

I hope these simple traditions over the years will cement in our kids’ minds and hearts (and ours) the image of the empty tomb, and that the reality of Christ’s resurrection is the core of our faith and our hope. Years ago I remember reading about a hypothetical question posed to some leading pastors and theologians: What if they found the body? I don’t know what the original point of the question was, but I think it gave each responder a chance to reveal something about what their faith really means and what it’s based on. I was surprised and disappointed that quite a few responders answered that it wouldn’t really matter–the principles that Jesus taught and died for are just as valid even if he wasn’t resurrected.

I don’t agree. Although the principles of love and forgiveness that Jesus taught are priceless and life-changing, they are not the reason I worship Christ as my Savior. I worship Christ because he is the Son of God who came down and suffered for my sins, died on the Cross, and rose the third day, as he said he would . Christ is my Savior because he conquered both spiritual death–allowing us all the chance to return to our Father–and physical death, which  he did by resurrecting and therefore making it possible for all to be resurrected. This was Christ’s mission, and this is what Christ did, and this is why we worship him, and to claim that any part of this doesn’t matter is to deny Christ’s divinity and cheapen his sacrifice for us.

Although I don’t understand exactly how it is all possible, I believe in the miracle of Jesus’s resurrection, and that belief is the source of my hope in a life to come and in a reunion with my loved ones who have already passed on. I’m grateful for the many testimonies we have of this in the New Testament, and for the beautiful understanding of the resurrection Alma gives to us in his Chapter 40 in the Book of Mormon:

The  soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

Whatever your current beliefs are, take today as an opportunity to reflect on Job’s eternal question:

If a man die, shall he live again?

I believe that deep down our souls know the answer to this question, no matter what the status of our faith. I love Job’s own answer:

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

And this is all because two millenia ago a borrowed tomb was found empty.

Happy Easter!

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ

Today is one of the most sacred days in all Christianity, the day that Jesus was crucified. This event marked the consummation of the Savior’s earthly ministry, the fulfillment of a centuries-old prophecy that, just as God had brought physical liberation to the ancient Israelites in Egypt, he would also bring spiritual redemption to all those who earnestly followed him.

Many of my friends in India often wonder what made Jesus different from the rest of the ancient prophets. The events of his mortal ministry, from the Sermon on the Mount to the Last Supper, would have left a timeless legacy of wisdom and good works, standing alone. He had already spread so much good in the world. So then why did Jesus have to go one step further? Why did He have to die for us?

To truly appreciate the magnitude of this event to mankind and its value to us individually, it is first necessary to understand the need for a Redeemer. Anyone who takes the time to sincerely examine their life will readily admit–sometimes wincingly–to possessing a fair share of weakness and imperfection. But what we often neglect to fully contemplate, are the eternal consequences of our flaws. We believe our faults are forgivable because they are ubiquitous in the world today and we believe God is merciful.

The reality, however, is that, were it not for Jesus Christ, our outlook would be pretty bleak. This is because, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, we are subject to eternal laws and principles to which even God, in all his wisdom and power and love, is bound to honor. Foremost among these laws, is the law of justice, which prescribes a punishment proportionate to sin. In the grand councils above, it was determined that there was only one way we could escape the punishment due to us for our unceasing failings. Only one way we could stir up any pity at the bar of judgement. It would be necessary for someone completely perfect to sacrifice Himself and vicariously bear the reproof of the penitent on their behalf.

And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. (Alma 34:15)

Having willingly submitted himself to the chastisement we were lawfully due, Jesus alone satisfied the demands of justice and laid claim to the Father’s mercy on our behalf. It is only He who can argue for our forgiveness. In modern-day revealed scripture we catch a fascinatingly candid narrative of the Savior’s eternal closing statement in defense of those who demonstrate faith in Him:

Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him— Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life. (Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5)

On the first Good Friday, the anniversary of which we commemorate today, Jesus–the only perfect person to ever walk the earth–was accused, bound, scourged, mocked, reviled, spit on, and ultimately crucified. The despair was so intense that during the climactic moment of atonement, while nailed to the cross, Jesus writhed “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46) and the elements of the entire world groaned at the scene. Only that cataclysmic injustice could counter-balance the suspension of justice that a merciful judgement for us would imply.  This Easter season, may we strive to always remember that infinite sacrifice.