EASTER REFLECTION

by Fr. Frank Cordaro

It always amazes me how so many Christians and Christian churches in the USA are gung-ho 'law and order' people. So much of what Jesus and the Jesus movement was all about, according to the New Testament, was outlawed and counter cultural behavior. In almost every chapter of the four gospels, Jesus is breaking some kind of law or rule, either social, legal, or religious.

Most folks attending Easter services are not aware that the very act of the Resurrection was an act of civil disobedience. When the State orders a person executed, they are supposed to stay dead. If they rise from the dead, they are breaking the law.

In Matthew's Easter story the outlaw nature of Jesus' resurrection is very clear. The Jewish authorities ask Pilate to station Roman soldiers to guard the entrance to Jesus' tomb (Mt 27:62). The seal of Rome was placed on the tomb's entrance. Anyone who dared to break that seal would be breaking the law of Rome and subject to death. On Easter Sunday morning the resurrected Jesus broke that seal, broke the law of Rome, and assured life's victory over death and sin.

At a much deeper level, there is something very subversive about believing in the resurrection of Jesus. Throughout his life, in word and in deed, Jesus took bold stands against all forms of injustice and sin, from the most personal sins of the human heart (micro) to the most communal and social sins found in human systems and structures (macro). These sins were played out in the religious, political, and economic institutions of his day. St. Paul called these the 'Powers and Principalities.' All these injustices and sins are based on lies and their ultimate by-product is death. When Jesus took his struggle to the cross, unto his death, he took on evilšs ultimate lie, the lie that death has the final say over the human spirit and essence. What happens on Easter Sunday morning is our bet that love is stronger than hate, that life does not end in death, and that the truth of God is more powerful than the lies of evil.

To be a true believer in Jesus' resurrection, one must both proclaim the eternal life gained by Jesus' death and resurrection and live a life of active, non-violent resistance to injustice and sin, on all levels (macro and micro).

There are some who say all you need to do to claim the saving power of Jesus' death and resurrection is to proclaim the love of God in your heart. But that is not enough. Some say all you need to do is to proclaim the love of God in your heart and selectively confront and resist the injustices and sins in the world. But that is not enough. The Easter reality demands a total package, a total program. We are called to proclaim the saving power of God while resisting the injustices and sins of this world wherever it may lead us.