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What did Jesus actually sacrifice?

...gging and crucifixion –  some of the most brutal ways to be tortured and executed in human history! There’s lots of atheist memes on the internet making digs at this idea of what it means that Jesus sacrificed himself. “Jesus came back to life, so he basically sacrificed his weekend for you”, or similar types of jabs, totally missing the point. Typical atheist meme So what did Jesus sacrifice if he only lost his life temporarily? Everything about his pre-incarnate self. Where once a spirit, now a glorified body. Where once only divine, now fully God and fully man. The incarnation had eternal consequences for the Godhead. Jesus’ sacrifice...

The Author of Life Knew Death For Our Sake!

...A week or so ago, I stayed the night at a local monastery with a friend. We got to see, and be partially involved in the day to day life of the Monks there, especially during mealtimes. We sat and ate in silence together while someone read to us, which was actually more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I can't remember what the book was called now, but it was to do with the Passion and what the crucifixion meant, and the point they were reading about was when the Roman soldier stabbed Jesus in the side. This is where it got interesting and gave me something to think about that I'd never heard taught before. Normally most preachers and sermons talk about the...

He is risen!

...  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. — 1 Peter 1:3-5...

Raised in the Heavenlies!

...aught pre-crucifixion and more importantly, pre-resurrection. We get a small glimpse into the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection from Peter and Paul in their letters where Peter explains that Jesus “went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18-19) – “prison” being the place of the dead for those people from times of old who had died. Paul also, in his letter to the Ephesians, follows up on this same event when he says that Jesus, “who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things” and that in doing so “he made captivity itself a captive” (Eph 4: 8-10). Death...

Lent: Day 16 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 48-59

...die from crucifixion; and people like Plato who alluded to a divine entity being placed “crosswise” at the centre of the universe didn't understand it either and was in fact borrowing from Moses who wrote these things long before any of the Greek or Roman gods and prophets came along. There is a lot of doctrine and theology contained in these chapters, a lot which is still very relevant for apologetics today, some which might serve as a starting point. I’d recommend everyone take some time to read these, and the preceding, chapters carefully....

Lent Day 18: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 1-9

...re at his crucifixion which the soldiers cast lots for since they didn’t want to rip it. The robe was made of a seamless thread from top to bottom, just as Christ is the head of the Church woven down from heaven to the Body, it too cannot be broken by those who possess it, as it shows the “coherent concord of our people who put on Christ” (cf. Jn 19:24; Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27). To close this section, the argument for unity rests in those words of Jesus previously quoted and also in what Paul wrote when he urged the Corinthians to keep in unity and avoid schisms: 1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus C...