I begin by stating my belief that Easter may by the most important and the least understood of Christian holidays.
In a way, the best April Fools Day jokes are set up like a “sting.” You remember that old movie, “The Sting,” don’t you? The good guys have to convince the bad guys that they win. Even the audience is convinced that the good guy’s plan has gone horribly wrong – until another layer of meaning is revealed, and the audience gets it and releases a stunned sigh of relief. Part of the delight in seeing such a movie is reveling in the cleverness of the author, even if we, too, are taken in by the joke. In fact, it’s even more satisfying if we do get taken in for a while.
Holy Week and Easter Sunday represent that kind of masterful sting against King Herod, the High Priests, Pontius Pilate, and the Roman Empire. It’s so well done that even the disciples are necessarily flummoxed for a while. Both sides (with the exception of Jesus) are so convinced of the political efficacy of domination and power that they can’t imagine what the Realm of God is really about. They all believe that one side must be in charge, either them or us!
Much of the despair that the disciples experience between the crucifixion and the discovery of the empty tomb is directly related to their belief that Jesus is “coming in power” to overwhelm the Roman Empire and put them in charge. They have even argued amongst themselves about who will have the best seats in Jesus’ new “cabinet.” Ironically, their desertion of Jesus at the time of crisis shows how unsuited they were for those positions anyway. And, believe it or not, that’s the good news!
You see, part of the joke is that Jesus was not looking for the brightest and best people to usher in the “new order.” His Realm would not depend on the capable or powerful people ruling over the incapable and powerless masses. No, he selected ordinary folk, women, and children to demonstrate that everyone has a place in the Realm of God, and everyone participates in the leadership by means of mutual love and caring.
Sadly, the joke is not over. The Good News of the Realm of God is still obscured. The empty tomb did not convince the imperial powers to stop using force to get their way. The empty tomb did, for a time, usher in a new way of organizing a society, as described in the Book of Acts (2: 43-47), but there is strong evidence that the battles for power among the early leaders of Christianity did not go away – maybe not at all, but at best, not for very long. Paul fought for leadership with Peter and the others in the Jerusalem group. Women shared leadership for a while, but were soon put “in their (subservient) place.” And of course, when the church became a great institution, the use of power and dominance over others, was for them, and continues to be for us, the greatest temptation.
Apparently, the point of the Easter joke is still hidden. What Jesus did, he did without the use of power and domination. He did it without the use of magic or supernatural power. Jesus makes it very plain that domination systems are not sustainable. But still, when we face times of crisis, force and domination still rise up as our first choice.
Jesus called upon his followers to “take up your cross and follow me.” He promised that while there would be suffering in the transition, the goal of the Realm of God would be worth it. How many times will we have to fail at “empire” before we try it his way?
In a way, we’re still waiting for someone else to transform our social structures. That’s part of the joke. As long as we wait for someone else to go to the literal or figurative cross for us, the Realm of God doesn’t come into being. Jesus made it plain: We have to do it ourselves. We have to learn to exercise love more than fear. We have to learn to trust one another.
On Easter, Christian churches around the world will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but will we all insist that the real Good News of the Realm of God must remain in the tomb? As long as we leave it buried, the joke isn’t over, and Easter hasn’t really come.
What do you think the Good News is?
Wayne Gustafson
“Don’t place a period where God has placed a comma.” Gracie Allen
The United Church__of Christ
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1 comment:
It took me some time to understand this. The turning point was a book called "What Jeasus Meant" - making your same point. We (all of us) are to create the Kingdom of God and we are still in the process - some 2000 + years later. Perhaps it is creeping old age, or my exposure to the "seekers" of the Seekers Group - my hope is times are "a-changing" and all of us are discovering the old way isn't working anymore - not locally, nationally, nor internationally.....and to copy a phrase from A.A. - We Are Responsible! Very interesting analogy - April Fool's Day and Holy Week. Martha B
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