As we come towards the end of Easter Sunday, it’s a good time to reflect on the three days that changed the world. This blog discusses three things that were changed by Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection: our relationship with God, our relationship with one another, and…nothing at all!
Our relationship with God
The video below by the Skit Guys gives us one perspective on how our relationship with God was changed by Jesus’ sacrifice: that, in one sense, our lives were ‘purchased’ by the sacrifice of Jesus. But this is only one perspective on the sacrifice of Jesus. I think the most useful way to understand the sacrifice of Jesus is as ‘Christ Victorious’: a total victory over sin and death in all its forms, which heals our individual and collective relationship with God (see Heb 2:14-15).
Our relationship with one another
At the last supper, on the evening of Jesus’ arrest, Jesus gave his followers a new commandment: to love one another as he had loved them. He reinforced this commandment with a striking example of humility – by washing his disciples’ feet (John 17:1-17). It was customary in those days for a servant to wash the feet of their guests, so the fact that Jesus took on this servile role was shocking to the disciples. It’s difficult to find a social custom that is a parallel to this, but it would be a bit like arriving at a dinner party with meals-on-wheels! How can we possibly love one another as Jesus has loved us? Well, we can’t – but we should try.
Nothing at all
Jesus was described as ‘the lamb killed from the foundation of the world’ (Rev 13:8, a reference to the Jewish feast of Passover, where a lamb was killed to remember the Exodus from Egypt). So, these three days that changed the world have been in the mind of the Creator from before the creation, so we pre-destined to happen (to take nothing away from Jesus exercising his freewill in the giving of his life). In the same way, Christians have been chosen from before the creation to be pre-destined for glory (Rom 8:28-32).
Jesus’ perfect life, obedient death, and glorious resurrection change the relationship of mankind with God, change our relationship with one another, and offer hope for us all.
Image: Flickr.