Love Like None Other

Its that time of the year again, when Nigerians and indeed the whole world find reasons to smile and be 'their brothers keeper'. That time of the year when the average Nigerian civil servant gets a few days off and enjoys another national public holiday. That time of the year when the malls and beaches are engorged with fun-seeking people and the excitement in the air is almost palpable. That time of the year when all your BlackBerry contacts change their display pictures to those of Jesus Christ and publicly declare their wanton love and gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made at Calvary. Even if its just for 24hours, Jesus gets our display picture slot, the only other day being Christmas day. Easter certainly is one of the biggest festivities in the Christian calender and the whole essence of this sojourn on Earth is to make that sacrifice count after all is said and done.

Jesus Christ is certainly the most remarkable personality ever recorded in history. Everything from His birth to His death and His resurrection remains enthralling. First, born of a virgin in a manger, even though as the Son of The Most High God, could have been birthed in the fanciest and most classy 7 star hospital Bethlehem had. Next, He grew up into an exceptional man and went on His ministry of good news and salvation, He healed people and raised the dead. Till date, my most captivating miracle story, apart from the ones that involved raising dead people, remains the story of 5,000 men fed with five loaves and two fish. The 5,000 of course, being with the exception of women and children. Human comprehension will never see explain these things as, modestly speaking, i have met average guys in their mid 20's who would conveniently consume five loaves of Agege bread and two pieces of fish at a sitting. You can then understand my captivation by this act of love by my Jesus. Another spell-bounding act was the turning of water to wine at the wedding at Cana Galilee as recorded in John 2:1-11. Again, i have a few friends who would wish for such a miracle and will take occasional glimpses at the two gee-pee tanks outside their houses filled with water for domestic use. Some of us however in today's Lagos would probably have begged Jesus to change the water in our boreholes to crude oil instead of wine, if we had the chance. Man must chop and it seems crude oil is worth more to Nigerians than wine.

Now to His death at the time at the young age of 33. Another remarkable angle to the story of Jesus. It wasn't quick and painless, it was calculated, slow, sadistic and excruciatingly painful. He was killed by the same people he had spent his life healing, feeding and ministering to. He was killed like a common criminal and even  Pontius Pilate thought it was strange that He was being put to death, so much so that he asked the people, who they wanted released to them and they passed on their last chance to prevent His death. They chose an armed bandit over Jesus! It is said that at that time crucifixion was the 'worst' death and only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. And you begin to wonder, what exactly Jesus' crime was, to be hated so much as to be killed in such a depraved manner. His only crime was Love. It is said that each of the nails that were rammed into his hands and feet were between 6 and 8 inches long. In centimeters, that comes to about 15 - 20cm. Now in medicine, we use the width of a finger as measuring 2cm, now put your 2 hands side by side so your 8 fingers align, that's just 16cm so you can have a fair idea of the sizes of the nails we used on Jesus. He was there for 3 hours and at some point He stopped bleeding as only water poured from His wounds. Medically, that scares me as i know exsanguination is a terrible way to die but to have water pour from wounds takes it to a different level. All this was after He had been whipped so severely and made to carry the cross for almost two kilometers. Science believes that no adult human man could have survived the torture and would have died even before the crucifixion. All that, for Love.

Have you ever wondered what was so special about you and i that made Christ bear all that. Even at death, He still didn't curse us, He was committed to conquering death and did. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Jesus had suddenly said, Okay, i'm not doing again? Have you ever wondered if what would have happened if Jesus was Nigerian in this current era? Do you really think He would have continued in the pain? His only crime was Love.

Christians in Nigeria today are just as remarkable. They are religious and hypocritical. We talk the talk but never practice that which we preach. How many of us will die for another presently in Nigeria, in the name of love? Even the Yoruba adage says 'If a fire burns you and your child, you dust the fire off yourself first before you attend to your child'. A friend of mine was driving somewhere in Surulere with his girlfriend, a girl he had professed his love to on several occasions. A few minutes later, gunshots rang in the air and in a flash, my nice friend had jumped down and taken to his heels leaving his lady distraught and utterly confused and of course, alone. I had a good laugh as he narrated the incident to me and when i reprimanded him for leaving this partner there, his response was 'Wole,abeg leave that thing, if dem shoot me there and i die, she no go remarry?'. Interesting. I don't blame him really as science has described humans as self preservatory, we have the 'fight or flight' hormones. It is reflex meaning the action occurs at spinal level i.e it doesn't require the brain, we don't process it, it just comes and we flee or fight as the case may be. Jesus however, surrendered His 'fight and flight' and disproved all our laws of nature.

Nigerians to me are the most heartless fellows currently on the face of the earth, even though i acknowledge there are a few millions that actually compassionate. We have seen Nigerians do good deeds at their own expense but surely the wickedness among and around us floors the compassion. From the President and Legislators who earn billions at the expense of dead and dying population who can't afford good food, good healthcare and good roads. To the contractor who uses substandard materials to construct buildings and roads so as to maximize profit and is consequently responsible for the demise of victims of the collapse of such structures. To the Danfo driver and Okada rider on the roads of Lagos who for the crave of making maximum profit will endanger the lives of passengers and other road users. To the businessman who imports fake and adulterated drugs hence condemning diabetics and hypertensives to their premature deaths. To the policeman who for a few extra thousand naira 'leases' out his rifle to unscrupulous elements to commit robberies and murders. The truth is most Nigerians have no respect for the sanctity of human life. We place little or no value watsoever on human life. After-all another Yoruba adage says 'If one person's own doesn't spoil, another person's own cannot be good'. These are the ideologies that most Nigerians live by. Sheer wickedness and overt selfishness and a helpless slavery to money and material wealth. Is it not amazing that on almost every street in Lagos, there is a church or a place of worship yet societal ills are at all-time highs and are still surging? Yet, these churches are always filled up....

Mahatma Gandhi once said 'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your  Christ'. I certainly see some reason in what he said, and i sometimes wonder if he was passing through Nigeria when he made that statement.

In the mean time, let us take everyday as Easter and remember the selflessness of Jesus. He didn't just define love,He was Love! Let us remember to always emulate this remarkable character of a Man and let people see Jesus on the display picture of our lives by the way we live not merely on our smart-phones. The world would certainly be a better place.

Happy Easter Celebrations.