Events that changed the world

 Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday mark one of the most important of religious events for 2.1 billion Christians worldwide. The event comes every year in April and is the conclusion of the Holy Week. The Holy Week is the last week of the 40 days of fast called Lent, which commemorates the “Passion of Christ”. This year it began on February 26 and ended on April 9. This year, Good Friday falls on April 10 and Resurrection Day on April 12. Christ was glorified in His death as it was a divine act of obedience to the Father of giving His life to atone for the sins of mankind. For the faithful, despite the global pandemic this year, caused by COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown imposed at most of the countries worldwide, observance of the two events will neither be dampened nor lessened. Good Friday is the day which remind people about the crucifixion of Jesus. However, there’s more to it than remembering; it is about the call to the cross at Calvary(Golgotha) and His resurrection after burial on the third day. The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was foretold seven hundred years before His birth(Isaiah 53:5). On Good Friday, Jesus Christ, as also recorded in history, was nailed to the cross at Golgotha when religious Jewish leaders condemned Him as a heretic. Churches observe Good Friday in either of the three ways- a historical reconstruction of the pattern of roots of worship as recorded in the bible; the funeral pattern to remind believers of the pathos of Jesus’ suffering and death and the third, being on the importance of the cross for Christian doctrine on how Jesus’ death fulfils the Old Testament prophecy for atonement. The question that continues to be asked is – why couldn’t Christ have used His powers to reveal Himself instead of undergoing such a painful death? Doing so would compelling humans to accept Him and not leaving them with freedom individual choice. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is confirmed by one undeniable secular source, the Roman historian Tacitus (55-120 A.D.)who wrote that the “founder of this sect (the Christians) was executed during the reign of (emperor) Tiberius by the Governor Pontius Pilate” (Tacitus, annals XV). The painful crucifixion and death of Christ was a sign of God’s abounding, undying and faithful love and in keeping with His promise (Genesis 3:15) to redeem mankind from the curse brought by the fall of Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God and fell prey to deceit. The message of the cross has been very clearly preached by Apostle Paul in his thirteen epistles .The cross in Jesus’ time, during Roman rule, was a symbol of shame reserved for criminals. The Jews who looked for signs missed the messiah on the cross while to the Greeks who looked for wisdom, it was foolishness. For the faithful, the cross is about God, His power and His glory. For the Christian faith the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are pivotal to God’s ultimate and eternal plan for the redemption and His crucifixion was a triumph of faith over feeling. To illustrate this, Jesus explained: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it produces many” (John 12:24).