Sai Inspires Apr 3, 2026

What are the true sacrifices made by Jesus, which we should hold as examples for ourselves? As we observe the solemn occasion of Good Friday, Bhagawan calls our attention to profound lessons from the life of Christ.

Jesus exhorted people by precept and example to cultivate the virtues of charity, compassion, forbearance, love, and faith. These are not separate and distinct qualities; they are only the many facets of the Divine in man, which he has to recognise and develop. People talk of the sacrifice of Christ as evidenced by his crucifixion. But, he was surrounded and bound, and crowned by the crowd who captured him with a crown of thorns, and later, nailed to the cross by his captors. A person bound and beaten by the police cannot say that he has sacrificed anything, for he is not a free man. Let us pay attention to the sacrifice that Jesus made while free, of his own volition. He sacrificed his happiness, prosperity, comfort, safety, and position. He braved the enmity of the powerful. He refused to yield or compromise. He renounced the ‘ego’, which is the toughest thing to get rid of. Honour him for these. He willingly sacrificed the desires with which the body torments man; this sacrifice is greater than the sacrifice of the body under duress.

- Divine Discourse, Dec 24, 1972