Jesus told His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

These words were uttered on the brink of Calvary. As Jesus taught the twelve the depths of real love, He knew He would soon show the truth of these words on the grandest scale: with His hands pierced and compassionate, selfless arms open wide.

Christ bore not only a crown of thorns on His head but also the weight of our sins on His heart. We will never understand the anguish He endured. Even the value He saw in us, which made the suffering worth it, will take us an eternity to comprehend.

No human can provide atonement, but the deaths of the martyrs deserve some of our attention too. They laid their lives down out of love and commitment to Christ. Because of this, the gospel has spread through the world for generations, giving us the opportunity to experience everlasting life.

The people of faith paved the way before us because they believed God’s promise of life. He sacrificed everything to give us life (John 3:16; John 10:10). All we have to do to receive His gift is accept it.