THINKING ANEW: IT IS HELPFUL when discussing Easter to bear two things in mind. First of all, the priority should be to seek the truth rather than try to win an argument. Secondly, to realise that Christian theology has never claimed that the fact of the resurrection could be known apart from faith. The New Testament witnesses had great difficulty understanding or making sense of it as many do today. It was important for them to ask questions and the same applies to us; it is essential if we are to have an informed faith.
There is no account in the Gospels of the resurrection itself – all the disciples knew was that late on Good Friday Jesus was dead and buried and early on Easter morning the tomb was empty. The first visitors to the tomb that we know of were women who went there to anoint a dead body. They had no expectations beyond that and were disturbed and frightened by what they found. Soon others were on the scene and word spread that something very strange had occurred. Not only had the body gone – and that was distressful in itself – but several of those involved reported encounters with Jesus. Reactions were mixed: some believed, some were uncertain and some were downright sceptical.
Two important points emerge from these events. The first is that the followers of Jesus came to believe that Jesus was alive and present to them after his death although in a radically different way. For them he continued to be a figure of the present, not simply of the past. And Christians today share that belief not only because of that brief series of incidents that occurred 2,000 years ago, but also because of their own gathered experience of that presence right up to and including our own time. The second point was that in the resurrection God had vindicated Jesus.
He had said Yes to Jesus and No to those who wanted to destroy him.
If we focus only on Good Friday we are left with a cynical and despairing view of life which suggests that what occurred that day was the final word; that the ruthless and the powerful will always be in control and that the weak and vulnerable will always lose. Furthermore, it means that Christianity belongs to the next world if it belongs anywhere.
Easter is the reversal of all that. It is a clear declaration that nothing will be allowed to frustrate God’s will and loving purpose.
Because of Easter St Paul expressed the firm conviction that nothing in all creation, not even life or death could separate us “from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In his book The Last Week, Martin Borg reminds us how trust in the God of Easter still frees and enables people to do important things. “Without this personal centring in God, Dietrich Bonhoeffer would not have had the freedom and the courage to engage in a conspiracy against Hitler within Nazi Germany itself. Without it Desmond Tutu could not have opposed apartheid with such courage, infectious joy and a reconciling spirit. Without it Martin Luther King could not have kept on in the midst of all the threats that he faced.”
Many other names could be added to the list, women and men, whose courage and faith encourages us to live in hope for ourselves, for those we love and for our world.
“Easter means hope prevails over despair. Jesus reigns as Lord of Lords and King of Kings . . . Easter says to us that despite everything to the contrary God’s will for us will prevail, love will prevail over hate, justice over injustice, peace over exploitation and bitterness.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
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