The Christian faith I was exposed to as a child never made a deep impression on me, but the statement in Corinthians 15:3 that Jesus died for our sins has always fascinated me.

The prevailing interpretation of this phrase is that Jesus voluntarily sacrificed himself to permanently restore the bond between God and humanity. While followers of pre-Christian nature religions frequently sacrificed crops, livestock, and sometimes even people, Jesus’ death supposedly made all other sacrifices obsolete.

In the literal sense of the word, the end of animal and human sacrifice is still a fine idea. I, at least, see little point in slaughtering a chicken to appease some nature god.

Figuratively speaking, however, it seems to me to be downright beneficial to occasionally demand sacrifices from each other in order to make the world a better place.

After all, it’s not a crazy idea to ask Putin and Netanyahu, in the name of peace, to relinquish their territorial ambitions in Ukraine and the Palestinian territories. Just as it should be a small sacrifice for conservative American politicians and the British Supreme Court to grant trans women their female identity.

Closer to home, you and I could also make more sacrifices to make the world a better place. By traveling less often and far, eating more sustainably, turning down the heat, or buying new clothes less often, we might be giving up some of our past achievements. But with these sacrifices, we offer our (grand)children a better chance of survival.

During Easter, we’ll undoubtedly be inundated with images of world leaders commemorating the resurrection of Jesus with pious expressions. It would be better if that very handful of world leaders were inspired and seriously considered what they personally can do to redeem the world from human sin.

Then the world could look very different next week.