Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is Risen indeed. Alleluia.
Sweet words that roll off the tongue. Familiar words we speak with ease.
We say them every year, every Easter. It’s always the same. And I never want it to change.
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
What does that mean?
Is Easter simply the happy ending to a really tough week for Jesus? Is getting Jesus out of the tomb the goal and purpose of Easter? Does today undo or make up for the crucifixion? Are we now free (after a celebratory lunch, of course) to get back to business as usual?
Or is Easter bigger than the man? And how far beyond the grave will we let it reach?
What if today isn’t the end of the story but the beginning of a new story? They buried Jesus in a tomb, like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth (John 12:24). But it wasn’t the end. The tomb became a womb that birthed a movement. It bore much fruit and still does. (Ibid.)
The Jesus Problem
What if the empty tomb is exactly what the Roman and religious leaders were most afraid of? Maybe that’s why they sealed, secured, and guarded the tomb. (Matthew 27:57-66.)
It’s their way of saying to Jesus and those who would come after him, “You are officially dead and silenced. You are dead to us and dead to the world. You no longer exist. Stay in there. Keep out of our way. Stay dead.” (Inspired by and adapted from Daniel Berrigan in John Dear, The Gospel of Peace, 144.)
They don’t want Jesus dead because he was a nice guy. Neither is it because he preached love, fed the hungry, or healed the sick. They want him dead because he’s a problem.
Jesus threatened their power. He reversed their hierarchies. He opposed their systems of domination. He came at life from a different direction. Jesus wouldn’t play the game by their rules. His commitment and loyalty were to a different set of values and people.
And you know what happens to people like that, right? We’ve seen it time and time again. It’s still happening in our country and across the world today.
For the power brokers of Jesus’ day the tomb was both a means and the end, just as it is for today’s authoritarians and all systems of oppression and domination.
The Other Jesus Problem
The tomb silences and eliminates. It’s the ultimate abuse of power and the final act of oppression and domination. But here’s the problem. Jesus won’t stay dead.
That’s the earthshaking good news the angel tells Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.
“He is not here; for he has been raised.”
(Matthew 28:1-10.)
Jesus refuses to obey and cooperate with the Roman and religious leaders. He won’t let himself be contained, sealed, secured, or guarded. “He has been raised from the dead,” the angel says.
I can’t explain how that happened any more than I can explain the cross but I know this. If death does not have the final word, then neither do the systems of oppression and domination.
That’s why the angel can say, “Do not be afraid.” It’s why the resurrection matters as much today as it did in Jesus’ day. And it’s why we never tire of hearing or telling the story.
A Life of Protest
The empty tomb is God’s protest against every system of oppression or domination. “Alleluia. Christ is risen” is the Church’s song of protest. And Easter is our invitation to join the movement.
Easter doesn’t ask us to just attend a protest but to live a protest. Every word we speak, every choice we make, every action we take can be a protest. Each one reveals our heart. Each one declares who and what matters most to us.
Resurrection is a protest. To be raised with Christ is to live a life of protest.
Sometimes we protest on behalf of and for the well-being of others. Other times we protest on behalf of ourselves and for our own well-being.
I wonder what that means and looks like for you and me today. When you look at your life today, for whom and what are you protesting?
I want to be able to look at my life and say, “The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.” Don’t you?
More than that, I hope when others look at my life they can say, “The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.”
How about you? What’s your Easter hope?
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Image Credit: Photo by Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash.
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