A couple posts ago I wrote about a video I watched in which a pastor was confronting a controversial topic at a secular university. There was a question and answer time at the end and one of the questions in particular keeps popping up in my mind. One of the students was talking about Jesus’ death and asked the pastor how dying but returning to life three days later could be a sacrifice on Jesus’ part as he still was God and the ‘Ruler of the universe’. I can’t say that I was totally satisfied with the response the pastor gave and the whole idea of it has been bothering me.
Jesus was fully God and fully man, the bible expresses such. The image that jumps to my mind is that of The Prince and the Pauper. Jesus (God) taking the form of a man. I don’t care who you are it would be humiliating to go from being a king to a beggar but Jesus was God and was placed as the lowliest of the low on Earth. That in itself is a sacrifice. So to have the ‘Ruler of the universe’ pay my penalty for the crimes I committed AGAINST HIM, yeah I would say that was a sacrifice. I mean seriously that would be like someone robbing me, but I accept the jail time and let the robber go free. Jesus experienced torture, ridicule, and death so that I could have a chance to spend eternity with Him. That is love and the ultimate sacrifice, even if He was only dead three days.
After discussing this with my husband, he helped me to realize that what Jesus did was even deeper than just paying for our sins. He came to be our example. Jesus came so that we would see what a fulfilled life looks like. We as believers will follow after our Lord through death and then we also will be resurrected into new bodies to partake in the new heaven and earth. His actions were not only of redemption but also hope and encouragement so that we would know what comes next. Why fear death? Jesus defeated death and He promised His followers that we would join Him.
grafted vines 