Highlands Post Column Apr-2015

Anzac day shouldn’t be the most significant day in the Australian calendar. And that’s not because only eight thousand Australians died at Gallipoli in 1915 compared to the fifty thousand who lost their lives in other campaigns in the First World War. No, the issue isn’t about a misplaced focus on Gallipoli at the expense of the Western Front. After all, the 25th of April has become the day we remember all the Australians who have fought in modern wars to defend our country. And it’s right that we do this. No, that’s not the issue. Anzac Day is a good thing.

But for many, Anzac Day has come to stand for much more than remembering the sacrifice of our forebears. It’s also become a celebration of the Australian spirit and identity said to have been forged by the events at Gallipoli. So one could be forgiven for thinking that Anzac Day has filled the spiritual vacuum created by the great ‘forgetting’ of the most significant sacrifice of all – the death of Jesus, the Son of God, on a cross.

But if Anzac Day is to replace Christmas and Easter as the central spiritual event of our nation then we should ask ourselves how it compares.

One of the Bible writers of the New Testament, the apostle Paul, makes this observation about Jesus’ death:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Paul rightly points out that people will not easily offer their lives for others. In World War One Australians did it to protect their families and other loved ones. But Jesus gave his life for those who were his enemies – the human race. His death provided the way back to God.

In contrast, the Great War was futility on a grand scale. Pointless sacrifices made by vast armies for little gain – part of the ongoing sorry tale of human history.

We must never forget that the greatest battle and most significant sacrifice of all took place on a cross. The most important event in all history. Jesus defeated the great enemy death and made possible eternal life with God if we choose it. He did it by giving his life for you and me.

Ian Brunton