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Sometimes it’s easy for me to think about Christ’s sacrifice, though it hard to completely comprehend. I think of Christ crying out to the Father and asking why he had forsaken him while on the cross. It’s a lot more poignant when you begin to notice the shear number of times Christ retreats to the wilderness to pray to the Father, like a child constantly calling home in an unfamiliar place. In his final moments, Christ felt abandoned by the very Father who made his descent into a sinful world bearable.

You see glimpses of the coming tragedy throughout Christ’s life. The shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept, refers to Christ weeping outside Lazarus’s tomb. People often wonder why Jesus cried after the death of his friend, only a short time before bringing him back to life. While Christ knew that Lazarus would return from the grave, I think he also was aware in that moment that he would soon take his friend’s place.

But while the immortal, sinless God incarnate tasted death like all the mortal, sinful people in creation, he was also the first to regain life, the living proof that God can do anything, even raise people back from death. It is important to know that Christ had to suffer, and that he did so out of love for us and love for the Father. But it’s also important to realize that he lives, and the joy his disciples shared with his return is also ours to share.