Easter?

This is a weird Easter. We in America have not experienced this type of Easter as a culture in a long time, if ever. We are not physically together. This day is supposed to be a day of celebration of the ultimate liberation. Liberation from death. Liberation from the imperial mindset, at least it is intended to be so. And yet, right now, we do not feel liberated. We do not feel free. We feel in bondage, stalked by death. Even if we aren’t all being stalked by literal death, this lack of being able to be a community as we have known, is a form of death, and we are grieving.

Imagine what it must have felt like to have been a Catholic or resistance Christian locked in a concentration camp in WWII when Easter came around. How did they celebrate the resurrection when they felt like they were in the Garden of Gasthemany, awaiting their death sentence. (I only leave the Jews out because they do not recognize Easter, but the Garden feeling is all the same, if not worse. The question here would be how did they recognize Passover during this time?). I’m not sure what that looked like. I’m not sure if there is documentation of it.

We are not in that kind of situation, but it is still a difficult one. I chose Mark’s recollection of the resurrection as opposed to the more commonly read versions found in Matthew, that ends with Jesus commissioning his disciples to make disciples of all nations, races, ages, etc. Or instead of the Luke version that after revealing himself to the disciples, he ascends and they worship him full of joy. Or the John version that ends with his commissioning of Peter to lead the future church and his affirmation of the unnamed disciple writing the gospel, believed to be John.

No, I chose the Mark version, because that is the version we need right now. It ends with the three women who had just learned about the resurrection of Jesus, but did not know what it meant or what to do with it. It reads:

Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He isn’t here. Look, here’s the place where they laid him. Go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.

Now, this is the crucial part:

Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

That’s it, that’s the original gospel ending. Mark is believed by most scholars to have been the first recorded Gospel, and this was how it ended. This is where we are. It is Easter. We have heard the good news, but we don’t feel free. We don’t feel safe. We don’t feel like celebrating. Neither did Mary, the mother of Jesus, or Mary Magdalene, or Salome. They were afraid. They were confused. Nothing was normal in their world any longer.

I recently read an article from a Scholar of the Hebrew scriptures, the Old testament, from Duke University, Stephen Chapman, titled, “This year, Easter will feel more like Passover.” Chapman said this:

By annually reliving that moment of uncertainty and fear, Jewish tradition remembers something true about the human condition, even as it draws strength from God’s past action. Passover faith is the faith that God can do it again. . .Christians are often unaware that Holy Week is viewed by many Jews with apprehension, since historically the Easter season has been a time of heightened Jewish persecution. In light of the health crisis we all now share, this year presents a timely opportunity for Christians to reflect on the Jewish roots of their tradition with greater appreciation and understanding. This Easter will be much more like Passover.

Let’s take a look at what Passover is. This comes from the book of Exodus, where the Jewish people were enslaved and abused by Egypt. God sends Moses to tell their leader, Pharaoh, that he and his people will be punished if Pharoah continues his evil oppression and slavery. Pharaoh would not listen. God sent plague after plague, and finally the angel of death over Egypt. The Jews would mark their doors as they would wait and hope for the angel of death to pass over them. After this Pharoah released them, before trying to recapture them. The book of exodus is the story of the journey of the Jewish people as they fled from persecution, and journeyed through hardships to get to their promised land.

As Chapman said, Passover faith is faith that God can do it again. God will do it again. Easter is resurrection in a time when we are still waiting for death to pass over us and our loved ones. God can and will do it again.

As disciples, we have responsibility in this. On Good Friday, Jesus laid his own life down so that others will live. Live eternally. We must follow Jesus, and in this case, carrying our cross might look like social distancing, protecting our most vulnerable, working in the medical front lines, or working jobs we all depend on for survival. Martin Luther, the famous church reformer, lived during the time of a plague. Luther stated in one of his writings, that those of us working essential jobs need to trust in God to protect us, that we need to protect our own bodies, and that neglecting the vulnerable is the same as murder.

If we neglect others in need because we fear for our own selves, we have blood on our hands. He points to Matthew 25 here where Jesus says the ones that know him served him via the “least of these.” If we are leaders and let society collapse without leadership because we fear for our own selves, we have blood on our hands. On the other hand, if we have it and spread it to someone else we have blood on our hands. And I think this fits here because we don’t know who is sick and not. Moral of the story, be cautious to remain healthy but do not operate out of fear and whatever fear we have, let it be fearing infecting someone else.

So here we are, in our homes. The first Christians met in their homes. We are observing Easter in a climate that feels more like Passover, and like Mary, Mary, and Salome, we are uncertain, confused, and scared. Let us be okay with our own fear and uncertainty. Even Jesus felt in such a way in the garden awaiting his death. Let us remember that a Passover faith is a faith that God can do it again.

He is Risen, He is risen indeed.

Sources for this article:

Stephen Chapman: This year Easter will feel more like Passover

Martin Luther: Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague