BY VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
 
victoriangozii@gmail.com  08033077519
 
It is noteworthy that in the last two months majority of people that profess one faith or other had been involved in some religious event, chief among which was the Lent and Ramadan fasting periods for both Christian and Muslim faithfuls that coincidentally started on same day this year. While the 29/30-days Ramadan fasting ended some two weeks ago with the feast of Eid-el Fitri, the 40 days Lent fasting continues and ends with celebration of Easter on Sunday April 5. And so it is that over the weekend, worldwide, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was being marked.
 
Christ was an envoy of God sent forth by Him over two thousand years ago, to save mankind from spiritual death through His Message which is no more than to make mankind understand the Creator and His Creation so that we can live in such a way that is pleasing to Him by obeying His Laws that are embedded in the whole of Creation, bearing His Will, the strict observance of which will bring us individual/collective peace/happiness.  In brief to show the path that leads to eternal life/peace. That he left His kingdom, the divine realm, to journey down down to this dense earth, gross matter for His mission is itself a sacrifice which mankind will slowly begin to grasp in future as spiritual knowledge spreads. Jesus was born among the Israelites for the simple reason that among all the peoples on earth at the time they had a concept of God that was nearer to the Truth (the concept of One GOD). Their  knowledge of God was relatively higher than those of other nations as these were still largely enmeshed in the concept of the substantiate beings more or less, that is, the gods and goddesses of fire, water,  air, earth.
 
 He was outwardly, a man among men, for His physical body was subject to all the things that earthman’s body are subject  to in accordance with the Laws of GOD/the laws of Nature for as he himself averred  “I am come to fulfill the law, not to overthrow it’’. That is however, where the resemblance ends; it is boundless presumption on our part to equate ourselves with Him simply because of the outward appearance. Whereas our inner core is spirit, that of the Envoy of God who walked upon the earth over two thousand years ago is Divine; whereas our home is in the spiritual realm, he came from the Divine, higher, higher up and that is an unbridgeable gulf, for the distance between both realms is infinite, our human brain cannot fathom it.  ‘In lacking humility, we lack everything’….. Not many recognized him for who he was…..   Later in life he met John the Baptist, a Called one, at the River Jordan. John immediately recognized him wherein he uttered, “Master I am not worthy to… The bandage fell …and that marked the take-off of His Mission. He began to teach the Word of Truth, by word of mouth, the form of communication prevalent at the time, from town to town and to perform miracles. This continued for a few intense years….
 
 Leaders of existing religion at the time began to hate him because the people were literally turning their backs on them and following Jesus, thus their influence and authority began to wane. They considered him irksome, a threat to their earthly power and so sought a way to eliminate him. As they could not objectively find anything to pin against him, they resorted to the only way familiar to the Darkness, slander, false accusation, false witnesses through their bribed agents…..They accused him of blasphemy, (He of all people, irony of ironies)… The howling mob that had once sang, ‘Hosannah, Hossanah, glory be to him who comes from the highest’, changed their tune to, ‘crucify him, crucify him’…Pontius Pilate sought to  disassociate himself  from the clamour by symbolically washing  his hands off it as he reluctantly succumbed to demands of the howling mob who had been worked into a hysteria by releasing Jesus to them….to be crucified(the manner of death at the time)…The long walk to Golgotha was grievous in the blazing sun.  Even more heart rending, indeed, indescribable was the physical pain, He bled on the crucifix in the scorching sun, bled to the last drop of his blood….He bore it all stoically and so he shed his body and blood for the sake of mankind for through it, He put a seal to the conviction of the Truth he brought to mankind. Had he shunned physical death or ‘ran away’ in the face of all the sufferings he encountered people would have doubted Him and his mission.  That is the second sacrifice of Love on His part.
 
Nevertheless, His persecution and death was a crime by mankind.  At the moment He passed on the  heavens protested so to speak, the sun hid its face and darkness descended upon the earth momentarily, the holy of holies was rent into twain, symbolically indicating that Divinity would never again step foot on earth.. But then, being the embodiment of Love Himself, He uttered the greatest prayer of intercession ever spoken with the words, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. That was the saving grace for mankind, for, God hearkened to the voice of His Envoy and granted that before the Final Judgment, His Word of Truth be once more preached to the faithless. That prayer  bought us time, we are now in what in earthly parlance is called  extra time, injury time which spans centuries though, for an hour of spiritual time is equivalent to century(ies) of our time here. That singular prayer of intercession by the Redeemer in the midst of the greatest physical suffering by him in the hands of mankind was yet another indication of His inconceivable goodness and Love. Thus as we commemorate those momentous events over two thousand years ago with various ceremonies this Easter 2026, we should always remember, the path of suffering that the Master trod to bring us the Word of GOD, out of love; for, redemption, salvation lay only in living completely in accordance with the Word in all ramifications.    But first we must understand It  aright to be able to adjust our lives accordingly. That is our number one duty in these times. The Redeemer Himself said, “Not all those who call me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of God but only those who do the Will of my Father in Heaven”, that is those who internalize His Word, obey GOD’s Commandments in thoughts, words and deeds.  
Happy Easter!
Victoria Ngozi Ikeano writes via victoriangozii@gmail.com 08033077519