“The Greatest Week in History”

Astronautic space exploration had just begun, but in his 1961 “Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs,” American president John F. Kennedy urged, “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Eight years later, on July 20, 1969, astronauts from Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon.

As the first person to walk on its surface, Neil Armstrong described that experience as “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” On July 24, the capsule carrying Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, returning all three astronauts back to earth safely.

They were extracted from the ocean and kept under a twenty-one-day quarantine on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet as a precaution against “moon germs.” Through a small glass window, President Nixon saluted them and said: “This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation... As a result of what you have done, the world has never been closer together.”36 Today, there are people who believe the moon landing was all a hoax because some of the images shown “from the moon” that day had been prerecorded in the flight simulator. But whatever the conspiracy theorists say, it is undeniable that the Apollo 11 mission was a major scientific achievement.

However, it was not as important as suggested by President Nixon. It can never be compared with the events of the Passion Week when the very destiny of humanity was in the balance. Yes, Apollo 11 carried three men to the moon, but the cross of Christ gives all of humanity free access to the very presence of God in heaven. The Apollo 11 mission generated worldwide excitement and expectation.

As a kid growing up in southern Brazil, I eagerly followed live radio coverage of the event. But neither this nor any other event in human history has ever brought more people “closer together” than the cross of Christ. We are told by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 that, at the cross, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (verse 19).

Then Paul makes this appeal: “On Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (verse 20). This is your chance! Don’t delay your decision any longer.