It’s Easter and time to reflect on its true meaning. Why did Jesus die on the cross? What is the meaning of the resurrection? Initially I intended to do separate posts on these two aspects of Easter but they are so intertwined that you cannot discuss one without the other.
It has been said that Jesus died for us, that his humiliation, suffering and death was a “once for all atonement” which brought about the forgiveness of human sin. His death on the cross supposedly reveals to us God’s love for human beings and His merciful and forgiving nature. However, is it not a slur on the character of God to suggest that He only shows mercy upon receipt of adequate sacrifice, that He is only satisfied by the spilling of the blood, immeasurable pain and the death of this innocent and great man? It seems to be a terrible contradiction that God’s love and mercy are subject to the payment of a debt which mankind came to owe Him and that this debt is repaid by Jesus’ death on the cross.
Sin has not been eliminated from this world and to this we can all attest. Therefore, we must ask what is this sin for which Jesus died? It has been claimed that Jesus’ death absolves us from the original sin of Adam and Eve who disobeyed God and fell from His Grace. Adam and Eve then passed this sin to their children, through whom the rest of mankind was cursed with its inheritance. Damning all of humanity as a result of evil-doing by ancestors is not in the nature of a love and mercy. Surely God understands that sin and evil-doing are the conscious and deliberate acts of a person and not the result of an automatic transmission from parent to child.
If not for this then why did Jesus die? To answer this we must look at what he taught. Jesus taught love, forgiveness, peace. He taught substance over form, that what matters is not the act but the spirit in which it is performed. It is not the following of rules that brings one closer to God but the love of your human brothers and sisters. The ego must be released in order to find the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus’ death, therefore, shows us that the ego, in the form of narcissism, self-interest and materiality, will fight back when threatened. In order to enable them to cling to the power, wealth and fame to which they became accustomed it served those in powerful positions to eliminate Jesus. His innocence did not matter. His teaching was dangerous because it showed that saving your soul is a matter of self-examination rather than performing a process, following blindly and exalting authority.
The “original sin” was not really a sin but a choice, an act of disobedience of children wanting to go out into the world and make their own mistakes. Mistakes were made but Jesus showed us that to correct them all you need is a change of mind. If you substitute self-interest, materiality and the intoxication of power with love and forgiveness you are already in the Kingdom of God. The resurrection, therefore, reveals that love and spirit will always triumph over the trappings of the ego. It proves that life is everlasting and love cannot be destroyed.