Last week I saw a new video from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They launched it for Easter, under the name ‘Greater Love’. Based on John 15:13: ‘No one has greater love than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.’
What struck me was how unusual the video was. Not the usual, calm depiction of a serene Savior. But raw. Unashamed. The suffering of Christ is not polished away. The creators apparently knew that we sometimes need that: to truly see what happened.
And as I watched, I realized something again that I've actually known for a long time, but don't dwell on enough. We celebrate the wrong holiday the most.
We make Christmas bigger than Easter. But why, actually?
I get it, though. Christmas has everything going for it. The lights, the music, the coziness, the mulled wine, the gifts. It's a celebration that even non-religious people can effortlessly join. And the joy is sincere. A child being born, a star above Bethlehem, an angel saying, ‘Do not fear.’ It's beautiful.
But if I'm honest — if we are honest — Christmas is the beginning of the story. It is the announcement. Easter is the fulfillment.
At Easter, we don't celebrate that someone was born. We celebrate that death was overcome. That a man who was tortured, humiliated, and crucified, rose on the third day. That the tomb was empty. That everything that makes us small and finite — our mistakes, our suffering, our death — that all of that does not have the final word.
Easter eggs are fun. But that's not what's on the table if you truly understand it.
What the Atonement means today
The Atonement of Christ is so great that we easily overlook it. We reduce it to a theological concept. Something for church, something for Sunday lessons. But let me try to make it concrete.
You have done something you are ashamed of. Something that keeps you awake at night. Something you don't dare say out loud. Maybe years ago. Maybe yesterday.
The Atonement says: that doesn't have to be your definition.
You are struggling with something bigger than you. An addiction, a broken relationship, grief that doesn't go away, a body that fails you. Something you try your best at, but can't get out of.
The Atonement says: He has already gone through it. He knows how it feels. And He offers strength for what you alone cannot bear.
Alma writes about this in the Book of Mormon in a way that always touches me: ‘And he shall go forth, taking upon him suffering, pain, and sorrow, and temptation of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the sufferings of his people, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people in their weaknesses.’ (Alma 7:11)
That is not abstract theology. That is a personal promise. He not only took the punishment upon Himself. He also took the experience upon Himself — so that He understands you from within.
And yet: why all that suffering?
I already hear the objection. It's the same one Stephen Fry so eloquently expressed in his famous TV interview. How can a loving God allow a world where children suffer? I wrote about that before and I want to briefly mention it here without repeating the full argument.
Suffering is not an end in itself. But a world without suffering, without opposition, without the possibility of failure — that is not a world of humans. That is a machine. And God does not want machines. He wants sons and daughters.
The plan — what we call the plan of happiness — is not aimed at raising us in a protected bubble. It is aimed at letting us become who we truly can be. And that happens through opposition. Through choice. Through the real possibility to fall and rise.
Atonement is precisely that: the guarantee that falling is not final. That growth has no limit. That even the worst thing you've experienced doesn't have to be the end of your story.
Easter is not the celebration of a God who allows suffering. Easter is the celebration of a God who Himself went through suffering — and won.
His love is infinite. And personal.
The Church's video asks a question that stays with me: 'How did He do it? How did He persevere until the end, until His Father's work was completed?'
The answer is in John 15:13. Love. Not a sense of duty. Not cosmic necessity. Love.
And that love is not historical. It is not reserved for the first followers, or for people who do well, or for people who already believe. It is for you. Now. Today.
That's also why I started the figurines campaign — small figures of Jesus, which I distribute for free and which people can pass on. Not as a religious object. Not as a mandatory message. But as a tangible reminder: someone is thinking of you. Someone loves you. Not because you deserve it, but because that's just who He is.
John writes it so simply that we almost overlook it: 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.' (John 3:16)
Not a select group. Not the pious people. Everyone who believes.
The first step is simpler than you think.
I notice that people sometimes think that faith is something you either have or don't have. As if it's a gift you just didn't happen to receive. But faith is not a feeling. It's a choice. And it starts small.
In the Book of Mormon, Alma invites everyone who doubts to try a simple experiment: plant the seed. Give the word a chance in your heart. See what happens. (Alma 32:27–28)
The first step is not: understand everything. The first step is not: make sure you have no more questions. The first step is: believe in Christ. Acknowledge that He died, that He rose, and that it was for you.
That is the culmination of everything. Of why we are here. Of what all suffering can mean. Of why death is not the end. And of why Easter, if you truly let it sink in, is the biggest celebration of the year.
Watch the video. Let it really sink in. And if you want to know what else there is to do — contact us, or just drop by.
He loves you. That is the message of Easter. And that message is eternal.
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