A Thought For The Week Of April 15

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." (1 John 3:16) Say what you will about the whole doctrine of substitutionary atonement - which is the idea, basically, that in his death Jesus paid a price that we would have otherwise had to pay. There are different ideas about what the doctrine means, and some Christians don't believe in it at all. Having said that, the death of Jesus clearly means something. The biggest part of the Gospel stories revolves around his passion and death, and the crucifixion and its results are constantly reflected upon throughout the New Testament. Without getting into all that controversy, let's acknowledge this: Jesus' death (certainly in combination with the resurrection) has had an impact on the world, and certainly on those who are Christians. And if nothing else, it serves as an example of unselfish self-giving. Jesus, even in death according to the Gospels, focused not on himself but on others, to the point of ensuring that his mother would be cared for, assuring a repentant thief of his salvation, and offering forgiveness to his persecutors. That's quite an example. And John, in this passage, makes the death of Jesus an example: "we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." That may not mean having to die for others, but it does mean making ourselves available for the service and well-being of others, whatever the cost might be to ourselves. If we could all focus on the well-being of others, think what a wonderful world we'd have, and how many of the world's problems we could solve. Have a great week!