Does the sacrifice that Jesus underwent have any meaning outside of Christianity? Can someone who isn’t religious still find value in the ordeal that Jesus went through? I think the answer to that is a resounding yes. The death, and life, of Jesus doesn’t have to be regulated to Christianity, instead, there is a lot that it can offer even to those who aren’t religious.
The sacrifice of Jesus is one that is often largely misunderstood. The meaning of the death of Jesus is one that is debated within Christianity. So it should be of no surprise that outside of the religion, for those who even think about it, there are many different views. For some, they would even go as far as to deny that there was a sacrifice at all, as after all, Christianity teaches, death was not the end.
Maybe we should begin then with what defines a sacrifice? The Colling English Dictionary states that a sacrifice is “a surrender of something of value as a means of gaining something more desirable or of preventing some evil.” The meaning lends itself to a great deal of subjectivity, but does help us move forward.
With that definition in mind though, would surrendering one’s life, as Jesus freely did, count as a sacrifice if he believed he would be resurrected? The answer is yes. It’s what sacrificing is all about. A sacrifice is meant to bring about something greater. The sacrifice is not negated just because that expectation is realized.
Let’s break this down a bit further. Jesus gave up something of value. He gave up his life, and I think most can agree that human life has value in it. Jesus had chance after chance to save himself, to blend into the crowd, or to completely vanish. Yet, he continued to preach his message, and be a thorn in the side of those in power. Knowing the threat that was on his life, he pushed forward regardless of the price.
There is no doubting that Jesus knew what he was doing, and what the outcome would be. He would have remembered what happened to John the Baptist. He would have known about other Jewish leaders who perished because they preached similar messages that challenged the status quo.
Knowing all of this, he stood fast, as the message he preached was important. It was a message he believed brought something of greater evil, and flew in the face of evil. After all, he was standing toe to toe with Rome, a kingdom that committed untold acts of evil, that had put its foot on the necks of the marginalized, and continued to push down.
That Jesus surrendered his life in order to continue pushing his message seems to be quite clear. So maybe the question we need to tackle then is did his death bring about something greater, or prevent evil? Christians obviously say yes. The death of Jesus led to the resurrection and salvation.
If one isn’t a Christian though, neither of those really apply. Afterall, if you believe Jesus was resurrected, you’re probably not denying Christianity. Instead, we need to approach this from the perspective that the death of Jesus was simply the end. Did it still bring about something greater, or does the message he preached have a larger meaning?
His death did lead to Christianity. One can argue that Christianity has led to more harm than good, and there are many who have chosen that path. Yet, we can’t deny that the message Jesus preached has inspired many to do great things, and even make sacrifices themselves.
Martin Luther King Jr. is one such man who comes to mind. He’s a man who most would agree did great things, and helped fan the flames for the fight against injustice. The question of whether MLK sacrificed himself for his message, for the ideas he was promoting, is easily answered as yes. Few would deny the sacrifice MLK made.
That message MLK preached, and died for, was largely the same message preached by Jesus. It was from the teachings of Jesus that MLK gained a great deal of inspiration for his own message. If we agree that MLK sacrificed his life for preaching a message similar to what Jesus was preaching that led him to be crucified, don’t we have to also accept that Jesus also made a sacrifice?
Maybe the difference is that Jesus knew death wasn’t the end. That he believed he would be resurrected. But didn’t MLK have a similar belief? After all, he had accepted the Christian message. That death wasn’t the end would have been his truth. Does MLK’s belief in heaven, that he would spend an eternity with God, negate the sacrifice he made?
I think most of us would agree on the answer to that question. And if these sacrifices do have meaning, do have value, maybe it’s worth looking more deeply into what both of these individuals preached, and taking that message seriously.