Memories of Easter

There is a good reason Easter is so important. It is the most important teaching of the entire Christian doctrine, surpassing Christmas if that were possible by any measure, inseparable as they are. The full grown man, Jesus, made a series of deliberate decisions to follow God's will in order to undo the judgment of God brought upon mankind by Adam's act of disobedience to God's direct order in the garden of Eden. That is the Easter message.

The weeks, days, and hours leading to the murder of Jesus by religious leaders of the day and their sons, daughters, and communities through their surrogates, the Roman Empire, are filled with anxiety, trepidation, and pure drama, never entered into the mind of a man. The interesting thing is that everything was written in the form of prophecy, every single detail, about the necessity of, the actors in the drama, and the events that would culminate in the most heinous act of a group of leaders on an innocent individual in history.

Unless we pay careful attention to the underlying spiritual story-line and the choices the Passion of the Christ bring to us, we can easily continue in our ways and ignore history's greatest offer of the only way out of sin and damnation.

Christmas and Easter have always been important in my life, going back to when I was a little boy at Mainza primary school in rural Zambia. As I grew up their importance grew too. The teaching about Easter differed somewhat from that about Christmas. Although both brought communities of faith together in fellowship, to share their faith through songs and the study of God's word, Easter was bloody and emotional. Christmas was always joyful and affectionate; people of faith believed they had plenty to offer others, especially those with less than they had. Easter was not like that.

The word for Easter in ChiTonga is Pasika. The very sound of this word evokes in my heart, a kind of mysterious bitterness of life, a form of regret, all mixed with yet a deeper joy. Pasika brought the message of human suffering closer home. Every time the story was told I was surprised that nothing "strange" happened; no angels, no light out of the skies, no voice of God, just a man and his followers, a resolute figure with deep long shadows penetrating creation like an imprint on x-ray film.

In a dramatic narrative such as the Passion of the Christ, one always expects some kind of intervention from outer space or some other place, in this case one would have expected a miracle. None came. Jesus went a free man from the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, to the Upper Room, to Gethsemane, and bound to face the High Priest, to the place of the Roman Governor, and to Calvary, and not a single miracle of intervention happened. Something surely should have happened!

Everybody mocks Jesus there at the foot of the cross as he hang by the nails in his hands. The religious leaders challenged him to do what he said he would do, save himself; the crowds taunted him to save himself as the Roman soldiers challenged his power over them and called on him to prove himself. The thief hanging on one side of his cross mocks him too. Everybody is up against him and no one dares speak back. The few women and John, the beloved Apostle stand, waiting. No one speaks, no voice, no angel, nothing.

The one miracle recorded by some gospels does not take Jesus out of his pain and suffering, only pulls the shutters down on a cruel world. For three long hours the world lies in total and absolute darkness.

Such omens would have been easy to explain away, as though they had nothing to do with Christ whatsoever! And so, it is today, that we are reminded of the suffering savior and the religious leaders of the day, the Roman empire and the crowds who  mocked and taunted Jesus. The old warrior lives and reigns forever, whilst the world lives in the darkness of a world whose shutters are still down without Christ.

Pasika of my childhood was a three phase story, the betray, denial, suffering, death at the cross, and burial; the waiting, and finally, the resurrection. 

Many years ago Pasika was a messy and bloody mystery. Today, it is still a messy and bloody event but the ray of light is much bigger and always visible above the darkness that envelopes the world of unbelief. The waiting grows more important than when I was younger. In waiting we arm ourselves for the knowledge of our Savior and the extent of our salvation. We dare not go out in our own strength against the power of darkness. Jesus said, "But this is your hour—when darkness reigns" Luke 22: 53.

When I was young Jesus was an enigma, and the question "Who is Jesus," never fully answered. That changed when I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. Now Jesus is a friend, a companion, a teacher, a guide, and He is my God. He is no longer in the grave. He rose from the dead. 

I am surprised by the oversimplification of the Passion of the Christ in many places I have visited recently. The prophet Isaiah said it well when he wrote, "Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon" Isaiah 55:7.

Some "religious leaders" react to the suggestion that they behave like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, forgetting that we all have something in us that easily makes us like religious leaders. We assume a knowledge of God surpassing that assigned to us. We must rid ourselves of the religious leader spirit within us. Likewise it is not a particular Roman empire we should worry about. Something in us makes us look at the Christ with the eyes of Roman empire of Jesus' day. We assume upon ourselves that we can actually limit the power of Jesus by holding up a brand of Jesus; the true and only Son of God who died on Calvary cannot be limited by us. We aught to rid ourselves of branding Jesus and try sticking to him as our brother and friend. Jesus' friends are our friends; his brothers are our brothers too.

The Word of God speaks in the past about where we came from and why we are here, also in the present about our condition and the remedy Jesus' death offers us today. It further speaks about the future that remains unknown to us but clearly explained in detail in His word. Prophets are still prophets today; teachers are still teachers today, and His voice still goes out with new insights and revelations today. It is old, and it is also new. He created, and He is still creating today. He worked, and he is still working today.

The death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth 2000 years ago, the blood He shed on Calvary, and the wounds he suffered are live 'wires' today. If the cross proves one thing it is this: God is at work in creation today. Jesus is alive, Jesus cares, and Jesus saves.  All one needs do, is, ask. No better time to ask, than at Pasika. God has not forgotten the suffering of Jesus. 

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