By Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue
This Good Friday, as we stand at the foot of the cross and watch the innocent blood of Jesus Christ flowing for our sins, I am struck by one overwhelming truth: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
He didn’t wait until we cleaned up our act. He didn’t wait until we were worthy. While we were rebels, while we were enemies of God, while we were dead in our sins — He laid down His life. That is the heart of the Gospel. That is the measure of love we are called to imitate.
If Christ would do that for us while we were still sinners, how can we possibly do any less for the most innocent and defenseless among us — the unborn child scheduled to die today?
In the 1980s and 1990s, Operation Rescue lived this out boldly. We organized massive rescues where hundreds of Christians would physically place their bodies between abortionists and their tiny victims. We blocked clinic doors, we sang hymns, we prayed — and yes, we went to jail by the thousands. We were mocked, beaten, fined, and imprisoned, but we knew we were simply doing what Christ had already done for us: standing in the gap for the innocent.
I remember spending one Easter Sunday behind bars after a rescue. While other families hunted for eggs and celebrated the risen Lord with ham dinners, I sat in a cold cell reflecting on the fact that the same Savior who rose on Easter morning had once been an unborn baby Himself. I had missed the sunrise service but I had that very real peace that comes from obeying the call to rescue the least of these.
Today the tactics have changed, but the mission has not. The abortion industry is more entrenched than ever, yet the command remains the same: love the unborn the way Christ loved us, and while we were still sinners.
This Good Friday I am asking every believer — including myself — to rededicate our lives to this work. Whether it’s praying on the sidewalk, supporting a pregnancy center, exposing the truth about chemical abortions, or simply refusing to stay silent in our churches and communities, now is the time.
Because if Christ gave everything for us when we had nothing to offer Him, the very least we can do is give everything we have to save the babies He also died to redeem.
The cross was not the end of the story. The tomb is empty. Life wins. And until every abortion mill is closed and every baby is protected, our work is not finished.
This report may be republished with inclusion of the following acknowledgement: “This article was originally published by Operation Rescue, a leading pro-life, Christian activist organization dedicated to exposing abortion abuses, demanding enforcement, saving innocent lives, and building an abortion-free America.“
