Easter in contemporary context.
Sometimes, if we are not careful, we can romanticise Easter and place it in a mythical and timeless dimension that cuts it off from the real events of our world. Bunnies and chocolates in elaborately constructed boxes take the place of a story of politics and intrigue, betrayal and death, courage and sacrifice. But, the tragic events of Good Friday and the ruptured silence that is Holy Saturday happen in a world which is recognisably our world. It is a world running along its own self appointed lines – a world of treachery, betrayal and death. It is a world of the inexpressible grief of friends bereft and alone; cast adrift in a sea of enemies. At the mercy of crowds that only a few days before had been hailing their arrival as the arrival of a new age. Roman soldiers continued to dominate life in the city and the only man who they thought had the possibility within him of transforming that situation lay broken and bloodied in a dark and cold tomb. Holy Saturday – the day in between where God himself seems to be silent is the mute testimony to the tragic rupture that has taken place. Here God incarnate – the word of life itself- lies alone on a slab – all life gone, all words spoken, light and life and hope extinguished when they rolled the stone and closed the tomb.
Only on Easter Sunday does a new hope break in to the usual and routine patterns of grief, mourning and remembrance. Only now does something new and holy emerge. Something so different and transformed that it is not always immediately recognised immediately as Jesus. It is nothing less than the resurrected Lord who comes in the breaking of bread, the sharing of hopes, in the mist on the beach and whenever they scour scriptures. And this, it is understood, is not simply another resuscitation of a corpse – the famous Bishop of Durham was right about that – this is not another raising of Lazarus, nor is it the healing of Jairus’ daughter. Something other than that is surely sensed. For Jews resurrection would only occur at the end of time when God would be fully revealed and if the resurrection had indeed taken place then this Jesus that they had known must himself be the revelation of God and the completion of all things must be about to be accomplished in him. Here the very life of God lifts the world out of its appointed and accustomed ways and turns it in a completely new and unexpected direction – the direction of resurrection life itself. Jesus is risen and nothing is as it was before. Jesus is risen and the world itself is changed. Jesus is risen and life itself is made new.
The challenge facing us is to live out that resurrection life amidst the tensions of our age. To be as courageous as Christ in the face of all that would seek to extinguish resurrection hope in our world. To be prepared to pay the cost of sacrifice when we refuse to accept that the worldly categories of death, anger, hatred and sin still reign. Easter hope proclaims Christ’s triumph over such forces – D. Day or resurrection day has taken place and we live in expectant hope for Victory day in all its fullness to arrive, but the decisive battle has been won. However, in the words of Finlay McDonald we know that resurrection faith is still to be lived out in the bustle of life. True pilgrimage is not simply about withdrawing to a peaceful place, but also about joining with others from around the world to witness in busy places where people live and work and mingle.
On Easter Day we seek Christ's Easter blessing to his disciples: Peace be with you. We remember, too, that the risen Christ lives in the midst of life, in all its turmoil, and that that is where he challenges us to live out our discipleship.
May God bless you this Easter,
Peter McEnhill