Across cultures throughout human history, people have sought to flee oppression and escape persecution. A recurring theme in Western literature and in modern classics such as Superman and Disney originals, which revolve around the struggle between good and evil, is the need and critical role for a rescuer or savior.
Easter is the celebration of the finished work of the messiah Jesus Christ, the ultimate rescuer and savior for mankind, who sacrificed his life to provide forgiveness of sin — enabling all who believe in Christ to have a direct relationship with God.
That no other religion makes the claim that it was founded by a messiah makes Jesus the most revolutionary figure of human history.
Still, some assume Christianity is like other religions that require followers to perform certain works and rituals acceptable to God. Not so with Jesus, for he implores us in Matthew 11:30 that, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” When a learned Jewish Pharisee, whose life required living up to stressful “dos and don’ts” of the Mosaic law, asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus answered simply that if we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, we will have fulfilled all the laws.
Christ is absolutely unique in other ways. First, he is the only person in history who was pre-announced starting a thousand years before he was born, with eighteen different prophets between the tenth and the fourth centuries B.C. predicting his coming birth, life, and death. Hundreds of years later, the details of Christ’s coming birth, life, betrayal, and manner of death validated those prophecies in surprisingly accurate and minute detail. One thousand years B.C., David prophetically wrote about the crucifixion of Christ, at a time when crucifixion was unknown as a means of execution.
The death of other religious leaders — such as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Mohammad, or Confucius — brought anticlimactic endings to their lives and work. But Christ came into the world as God’s son to die and pay the price for man’s iniquity. His sacrifice was the ultimate climax of his life, done for the benefit of mankind — opening the way, for all who believe — to earthly fulfillment and a joyful afterlife.
The essence of Easter’s celebration of the Resurrection is that Christianity’s founder, Jesus, is still alive, having overcome death. No Jew ever believed that, after Abraham died and was interred, his tomb ever became empty. After Buddha died, no disciple ever claimed that they saw or spoke to him again. As for Mohammed and his teachings that are the basis of Islam, he never appeared to his followers after he had died at age sixty-one. His occupied tomb located in Medina is visited by tens of thousands of devout Muslims every year.
Rediscovering America, which was an eight-week Amazon #1 new release in the history genre. Reach him at scottp@discovery.org
Image: Caravaggio
Jesus Christ is King
