✝️ “Nobody Dies for a Lie”

I recently came across a post on Instagram that said:

“Nobody dies for a lie” — Mel Gibson, speaking about Jesus’ Resurrection.

That statement stopped me in my tracks. He's talking about his new movie on Jesus's resurrection, and it's an idea he wants to project in it. 

It’s a simple statement, but it gets right to the heart of something profound, doesn't it?

Think about it. People may suffer for many reasons - for family, for country, for dreams, or even by accident. But who would willingly give up their life for something they knew wasn’t true? 

No one. 

If the Resurrection were a lie, would the Apostles have gone to their deaths proclaiming it? Certainly not. They knew what they had seen, they had touched, and they testified to it even at the cost of their lives.

Jesus Himself knew exactly what He was laying down His life for. He wasn’t caught up in confusion or swept away by chance. He endured the Cross because He saw the glory beyond it. 

“For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” -- Hebrews 12:2

The pain and humiliation of the cross were real, but they were nothing compared to the glory that was to come. He knew that His sacrifice was the ultimate act of love - a love that would bridge the chasm between God and humanity forever. His gaze wasn't on the temporary agony but on the eternal victory.

And we see this echoed in the life of the first martyr, Stephen. As he was being stoned, 

“he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” -- Acts 7:55

That vision gave him strength. The pain of stones crashing against him could not crush the hope of what he saw. He knew the outcome, and it was worth it.

You and I wouldn't risk our lives for something we weren't absolutely sure was true, right? That’s the entire point.

It makes me wonder  what do we value in our daily lives? Most of the time, we weigh everything by what we can gain or what suffering we can avoid. We pray for convenience, for relief, for comfort. Yet when we say “Thy kingdom come”  we are really asking God to prepare us and the world not just for the temporary but for eternity.

And eternity comes with a cost. It demanded everything of the Father’s only-begotten Son. And in some sense, it has demanded everything of the saints who followed Him. Their lives were not lost but were poured out for the truth.

The Resurrection proves once and for all that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). When we see Him clearly, this temporal life loses its grip on us. Suffering doesn’t vanish, but it finds meaning. Death doesn’t terrify, because it is no longer the end.

The things we worry about in our daily lives and all our worldly ambitions fade in comparison to the immense reality of God's love and the promise of His Kingdom.

“Nobody dies for a lie.” The martyrs didn’t, the saints didn’t and neither did Jesus. He died and rose because the truth of God’s love is more powerful than death. And that same truth is what gives us strength today.