I was toying with a couple of titles for this entry, but none of them seemed very appropriate. (I have a long history of being inappropriate, so I want to be careful here.) “Jesus didn’t lay an Easter egg; He laid down so much more” and “Jesus wasn’t an April Fool” were a bit more disrespectful than I wanted to go here. Then I remembered, remembrance is at the core of the message. So naturally I found a meme.
With that out of the way, I turn to more serious thoughts.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13
King James Version (KJV)
I have heard this Bible verse quoted thousands of times, in many different contexts. With this being Easter weekend, I thought I would use the opportunity to share my take on it since this post has been on my mind for a while now. Whether or not you are a believer, I hope you can get something out of it.
Taken in its direct context, we have Jesus talking to his disciples shortly before his arrest and crucifixion. He is attempting to prepare them for what is about to happen. He is telling them he will soon be dead, sacrificing himself for the sake of the world. Of course the disciples are a thick-headed bunch—especially Peter (there must be something about that name)—and they aren’t quite getting it.
We often speak of the ultimate sacrifice when it comes to our war heroes, and really anyone who dies in the line of duty, especially police and firefighters. And I honestly think Jesus would approve of the comparison; he often used real examples to illustrate the theological principles he was trying to teach. But don’t think that the concept of “laying down your life” stops at death. Well, it may *stop* there, but it doesn’t start there. I think Jesus was talking about a whole lot more.
We are in an era of multiple observances. This year Easter falls on All Fool’s Day, much to the delight of many activist atheists no doubt. But also Thursday was was not only Maundy Thursday (the night of the Last Supper, a celebration of Passover, when Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”), but also Vietnam Veterans Day. And that leads into the point of my musing. Laying down your life means purposely, and purposefully, giving it up. It refers to sacrifice. Not only in death, but in life. According to orthodox Christian theology, Christ left his eternal glory in heaven to come live among us, under the most humble of circumstances. He laid down the life he was living to become one of us, to save us from eternal death. The closest thing he got on earth to his life in heaven was an impromptu ticker tape parade (Palm Sunday) less than a week before he was executed.
Members of our armed forces in the same way, on perhaps a less cosmic scale, have given up their lives at home to protect our country. They have left their families behind so that the rest of us might live free. They put themselves in harms way, doing our dirty work for us so that we can go on with our more “normal” lives.
The Christian teaching is that in order for the crucifixion to work, with with Christ taking our sins upon himself, he had to live a sinless life. His act of being our substitute for the penalty of sin (death) could only be carried out if the life he led here was a perfect replacement for our imperfection.
Our military, and our first responders as well, do the things we are unable—and perhaps unwilling—to do for ourselves: protect us, rescue us, and serve us during times that the normal rules of life vanish like puffs of smoke in the wind.
The overriding point of the season—whether you are a Christian celebrating Easter, a Jew commemorating Passover, a Muslim observing Leilat al-Meiraj, or an Atheist who is free to believe whatever they want in America—is GRATITUDE for those to whom we owe debts we can never repay.
Remember that this weekend if you’re going to remember anything at all.
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