Secondly, the suffering, death and resurrection is relevant because Christians can relate to it. We learn about Jesus through his titles – how he is the Messiah, the Son of God, but also the fact that he is human. The title “Son of Man”, which Jesus uses to describe himself, reinforces his humanity. He is shown to have human emotions, like when he gets angry with the Traders in the Temple, when he is in extreme distress in the Garden of Gethsemane and begs his father to release him from his suffering. However, ultimately he obeys God’s command – “Not what I want, but what you want.” When he dies he cries out “Eloi, eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This idea of Jesus being human relates to us. His humanity is our humanity, we can relate to the pain and suffering he went through. If we can relate to this, then, we should be able to relate to the way in which he accepted God’s word. We should do the same if someone is suffering, or dying – and He will give us hope.
Thirdly, the suffering and death provide us with an example to model ourselves on. Jesus said several times that discipleship is about service. He came as a suffering servant, as he tells us in the Request of James and John, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” If Jesus came to serve others, surely we should put other people first too, following Jesus’ example. In the end, he performed the greatest service of all, he gave up his life, for us. In doing so he defeated evil, and saved humanity from eternal sin.
Finally, the resurrection proves Jesus' identity. It confirms that he is the Messiah and the Son of God. The fact that he rose to life reinforces the importance of his work, in that he was the most important person to ever walk the earth. Christians today, because of the resurrection, can believe that he is alive in them, bringing the Kingdom of God into their hearts. Because of Jesus, death is overcome, and Christians, and all humanity, can achieve eternal life.
The suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus forms the basis of the Christian religion. It is the most integral part of Christianity. He sets an example for the whole human race and his pain and suffering relates people to him. Christianity is based on belief in the resurrection. St. Paul states this well in his first letter to the Corinthians. “If there be no resurrection, then Christ was not raised; and if Christ was not raised, then our Gospel is null and void, and so is your faith.” Jesus’ teaching is so powerful, He made us believe and understand what happened in his life and without the resurrection none of this would have been possible. Jesus can now be alive within us, and working in our hearts. As Jesus himself said, his last words in Matthew’s Gospel: “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”