The "Why?"

Because Jesus lives, we live in Him.  He said that He is the resurrection and the life and the life of a
Christian is found in Him. 1st Peter 1 says:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you...

The cross can remind us of what Jesus did for us and the empty tomb is a living reminder of the presence of the Lord in His people.  We can receive forgiveness from God because Jesus removed all the barriers and has invited us to come into a relationship with Himself through salvation.  In a world that is desperate need of a source of hope, the Lord has come to remind us that He is the light of the world and source of our hope, our strength, and our forgiveness!

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Before He raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus taught his sisters, Mary and Martha, about Himself
and foreshadowed His own resurrection. We read in John 11:
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

We read in verse 27 that Martha replied, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

Jesus asked the question concerning resurrection and eternal life: "Do you believe this?"  A story on the Christian Today website leads off by saying:

Only 46 per cent of British Christians believe Jesus died on the cross to save them from their sins, a new poll has found.

The survey of 2,042 British adults was carried out by ComRes on behalf of the BBC and asked participants, 'To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected at Easter so that you can be forgiven for your sins?'

Out of the respondents who identified as Christian, a quarter said they neither disagreed nor agreed, while 17 per cent of Christians said they did not agree.

The poll also examined matters surrounding forgiveness and if respondents thought certain actions could not be forgiven.

Also, in the U.K., around two-thirds of those surveyed attend a religious service, outside of weddings and funerals.

The Church Times website reported that the more active a person identified as a Christian was, the more likely he or she was to agree with the statement.  That article says:

Of those respondents who attended church at least monthly, 67 per cent agreed, as did nearly half (48 per cent) of those who had ever attended. Among “active Christians” (those who identified as Christian and attended church at least monthly), there was 82-per-cent agreement.

Regarding the forgiveness questions, the Church Times website states:

A high percentage of respondents said that they would find it “impossible” to forgive crimes. For murder, the percentage was 73 per cent, with 23 per cent selecting “difficult”. For child abuse, it was 85 per cent.

Nearly one quarter (23 per cent) stated that infidelity would be impossible to forgive, and 60 per cent said that it would be “difficult”.

But, as the Bishop of Manchester, Dr. David Walker points out: "On most of the example wrongdoings the survey poses, regular churchgoers were significantly more likely to think that it was possible to forgive than the general population. That doesn’t surprise me, but it does encourage me enormously.”

The Bishop also says:

I would want to see the crucifixion and resurrection in slightly broader terms, emphasising the promise of eternal life and the assurance of God’s unquenchable love for all his creation. The fact that the survey focuses on sin inevitably has a bearing on how people have answered.

Nonetheless, the clearest finding of the poll is that people who go to church regularly feel more able to forgive. On most of the example wrongdoings the survey poses, regular churchgoers were significantly more likely to think that it was possible to forgive than the general population. That doesn’t surprise me, but it does encourage me enormously.

He also pointed to an area of hope from the survey data, saying that, "one of the striking features of the research is that the group most likely to identify as Christian were under the age of 24." He says, "I meet many young people who are curious about faith and are setting out on their own faith journeys. It also backs up the findings of other recent studies."

The crucifixion of Christ.  His resurrection from the dead.  The forgiveness of sins.  These are all concepts that we can reflect on during this Holy Week.  We can no doubt commemorate the "what?" but we should always consider the "why?"  And, the more we are exposed to the truth of the Scriptures, the greater handle we get on these weightier matters concerning the acts of Jesus at the end of His earthly life.

Unfortunately, you have many British Christians that do not believe that Jesus died and rose again - that is certainly problematic, but not necessarily surprising.  In America, we see that Christianity is being redefined.  We have to sharpen our sensitivity in the Church to the true meaning of Christ's coming - He didn't come to give us the good life or to make us feel better about ourselves; He came to give us the best life - His life.  He has come set us free from the power of the sin that Hebrews 12 says "so easily entangles."

During this season, we can be challenged to embrace the gospel message and appreciate its clarity; to think about how what Jesus did on the cross and through His resurrection affects us.  He wants to change us, to live through us, to express His love to us and His nature through us.