The Sacrifice of Jesus in a non-religious perspective

Throughout history, we have seen many great individuals sacrifice themselves to promote an idea or message they believed would be for the betterment of humankind. Many of these individuals had a great impact on the world, with long-lasting ramifications. Others simply have been lost to the sands of history. One such sacrifice was Jesus’. Yet it is also largely misunderstood, or even denied, by various individuals. With a closer, historical look, we can once again see what his sacrifice was, and whether it still affects the world today.

The Collins English Dictionary defines a sacrifice as “a surrender of something of value as a means of gaining something more desirable or of preventing some evil.” Such a definition can be problematic because it is quite subjective. For instance, does surrendering one’s life, even though they believe that death is not the end, constitute a sacrifice? Personally, I believe that such is still a sacrifice, as I do not think that a sacrifice is negated by the possibility of a reward. And as per the above definition, gaining something more desirable is part of the sacrificial experience. Moreover, if we put such a stipulation on a sacrifice, we run into the problem of denying the sacrifices of many great men and women.

When we look at Jesus, we see a surrender of something of value. Most of us would agree that there is value in a human life. Looking at the historical figure Jesus, he does surrender his life. We see him being crucified by the Romans.

However, surrendering one’s life is not the only requirement. The surrendering, in this case, death, has to bring about something of greater value or prevent evil. And this is the important part here. From a Christian perspective, we can see a clear benefit from the death of Jesus. However, we are not looking at this from a perspective of faith, but from a secular point of view.

The first thing we must examine is the message Jesus preached and whether it could have led to his death. We see with many other individuals who sacrificed themselves, it was for a message or an idea. A great example would be Martin Luther King Jr. It was his message that motivated his assassination. We see a clear connection between the message and the assassination. More importantly, he was aware of the possibility that he would die as a result of the message he was preaching.

So what was the message that Jesus preached? We may never be able to completely know exactly what Jesus taught, as he never left us with any sermons. However, we can gain a general idea. There are a few clues in the material available to us that can shed light on his teachings. The first important clue is an event that we can be positive occurred. That is the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.

The baptism of Jesus by John is important because it tells us something concrete about Jesus’s ideology (at least at one point in time). There are a few reasons as to why Jesus would go to John to be baptized. It is nearly a given that Jesus subscribed to John’s teachings; there would be little reason for him to deliberately go to John. Given that point, it may also be suggested that Jesus was in fact a disciple of John. With this in mind, by looking at the teachings of John the Baptist, we can gain a glimpse into the teachings of Jesus. We have only limited sources on John, but what we can gather is that he taught that the Kingdom of God would soon replace the Earthly kingdom (which was Rome at the time).

Looking at the sources we have on Jesus, this teaching seems to have remained within his teachings as well. Moreover, we see this teaching carried on by Paul, who also expanded on it.

Another teaching we can be sure Jesus had was one of acceptance. In the Gospels, there are a number of instances in which Jesus is criticized for keeping company with tax collectors or other individuals seen as lower or as outcasts. One could sum up much of his teachings with the “golden rule,” love your neighbor as yourself. These two teachings, the one regarding the Kingdom of God and the other regarding acceptance, were intimately linked.

With this background, we can see a clear reason why the message Jesus preached would have led to his death. He was preaching a message that challenged the Roman Empire. Claiming that the Kingdom of God would replace the Roman Empire would have been a challenge to the Roman authorities. Combined with his actions in the Temple, his fate was sealed. Importantly, though, Jesus would have been well aware of what his actions could lead to, as he would have been exposed to just that throughout his life. It was the same basic reason why John the Baptist, who Jesus was connected to, had been executed as well.

Much like Martin Luther King Jr., we see a message connected to the figure’s death. Both of these individuals had a message that, at its basis, taught acceptance (or equality). And each knew that their messages, the ideas they were spreading, had the possibility of leading to their deaths. Yet both continued to teach this idea, which eventually led them to sacrifice their lives.

The message that both of these individuals had was one of greater value than one life. As in their messages, they taught that all life had value. They taught a message that has affected large numbers of people (in fact, the teachings of Jesus influenced King’s ideology as well) and, in turn, led additional people to help spread the ideas of acceptance and equality.

It is a message that transcends religions or philosophies. It is one that all can embrace and see its value. And with that, we can see the sacrifice of Jesus in a secular manner; in a manner that all should be able to relate to.