Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Quis ut Deus?

Home
Progressive Christian
“Greatest Love”: Remembering Jesus’ Loving Sacrifice on Easter

“Greatest Love”: Remembering Jesus’ Loving Sacrifice on Easter

Last updated on: March 13, 2022 at 9:04 pm by Connor Brennan

“Greatest Love”: Remembering Jesus’ Loving Sacrifice on Easter 2022-03-13T21:04:37-05:00 Connor Brennan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Happy Easter all! I’m grateful for this time of year, when Spring is finally emerging out of Winter’s gloom. It’s been an emotionally taxing week, and thus I’m grateful for this hope-filled weekend.

I’ve been doing some light Bible studying for Easter weekend, and I’m loving the cross-references I’ve found between the Easter message and other New Testament verses! Thank goodness for online Bible study tools, they’ve helped this be a breeze.

Much of the Easter message coincides brilliantly with these verses from the book of John.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 10:11

And then, my new favorite Bible verse!

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:13

I love this so much. To me, this poetically sums up the theme of Good Friday, the day of remembering His sacrifice. What He did was hands-down the most selfless act anybody can do. There truly is no greater act of love than to willfully sacrifice your life for the sake of others.

And love it was, even for those who reviled Him (looking at you, Pharisees!) Jesus saw them all as individuals who He was willing to die for.

It calls to mind the sacrifice of the lion Aslan from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:31

Folks, it looks like Jesus is the original Mr. Rogers! Honestly, as the English major that I am, I love the choice of “neighbor” as His people word here. He’s referring to all people, not just the people we call our friends. All the world’s people are our neighbors, and Jesus lay down His life for them all.

Check out the repeat of this message in this verse from Galatians:

“For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Galatians 5:14

Being kind to everyone, even when they aren’t always kind to you, is an act of supreme mercy and compassion. Jesus provides an excellent example of what it means to love all people. May we all, myself included, follow His example. Especially these days, with so much pain and suffering running rampant. We could all use more kindness right now.

Featured Image by Connor Brennan

Hello, and thank you for supporting my work here on Patheos! If you’d like to support me further, please feel free to “Buy Me A Coffee” here:

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/connorb943C

Previous Post

January 24, 2021

Understanding the Depths of God's Mercy: Non-Christians in the Afterlife

Next Post

April 6, 2021 Elijah, the Weary Prophet: A Timeless Old Testament Tale of Hope Amidst Desolation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category afterlife dreams LGBTQIA Media Analysis Personal politics Religion spirituality Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 July 2020 February 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 July 2018 May 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 February 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What prophet challenged King Ahab and Queen Jezebel over Naboth's vineyard?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elijah Elisha Amos Nathan