Easter this year is filled with paradox. How can we understand and celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus when ignorant, cruel, and ideologically driven men in high places dominate public policy and endanger the world? In the midst of the “shock therapy” being administered by the second administration of Donald Trump, who continues to be supported overwhelmingly by white Evangelicals, the question for socially concerned Christians is this: How can the story of the resurrection of Jesus be relevant in this context? Today I point to the reality of the Risen Christ as an antidote to despair and paralysis, and as a spiritual motivation for the ongoing struggle for peace, justice, and the healing of the world.
The presence of the Risen Christ is the basis for Christian life. Faith that goes beyond belief or dogma is grounded in a lived experience of the presence of God, a tangible sense of the Holy Spirit, sometimes expressed as the Mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16). This experience itself is resurrection: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…”(Galatians 2:20). In words attributed to Martin Luther: “My head has been raised; my Head is Christ. My heart has been raised, my heart is with Christ. My tardy body will follow.”
Reflecting on the Mind of Christ also provides a safeguard against the faulty idea of a violent God. For those of us who believe that the personality and love of God are revealed in Jesus, our understanding of God must be consistent with the biblical view of the life and teachings of the prophetic but nonviolent Jesus. Biblical literalism has no place here, but the overall “tenor and scope” of scripture, especially the stories of Jesus, point to a God of mercy and love.
What does this understanding have to do with the way we live our lives? Opening ourselves to the awareness of the Mind of Christ means living into the ongoing consciousness of God. It means living in a way that reflects the life of Jesus and his way of fostering inclusive community and challenging the powers of this world, even if it comes at great cost.
It’s important to remember that Jesus died in a way that was consistent with how he lived his life. After demonstrating compassion and confronting the ruling powers throughout his ministry, he refused to back down when those powers threatened him with death. In this way, he “gave his life” for others, for the sake of the greater good, trusting that somehow, in some way, God could bring life even out of death.
Others have followed his example. Archbishop Oscar Romero, after being converted to the side of the poor in the US-backed war against the Sandinistas, said, “If you kill me, I will rise in the Salvadoran people.” This, too, is resurrection.
Living a resurrected life means joining in solidarity with all who seek justice, especially those who are most vulnerable, challenging injustice and oppression, and courageously following Jesus into the heart of the struggle for a better world. I, for one, plan to keep my eyes open for those outbreaks of spirit, those moments of social breakthrough, when people of many faiths and philosophies rise up together in resistance to oppression, with hope and determination. That time seems to be NOW. By courageously acting for justice, we participate in resurrection, working for a world that reflects the love that brought us into being, the love that can’t be extinguished by any empire, the love at the heart of the universe.
This post, Holy Saturday is the sixth in the Holy Week 2025 Series: “Why Did Jesus Die: The Story Without the Dogma.” See also Palm/Passion Sunday: An Alternative to Empire, The Cleansing of the Temple: Direct Action as Exorcism, Maundy Thursday: Gethsemane and the Will of God, and Good Friday: Not a Transaction, and Holy Saturday: Following Jesus.
This series is based on Sharon Delgado’s book, The Cross in the Midst of Creation: Following Jesus, Engaging the Powers, Transforming the World.
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