THE LESSON OF EASTER AND THE REST OF US
PIUSRALPH
EFFIONG, SMMM
In the New Testament
account, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ which the solemn Easter feast
celebrates, is a foundation of our Christian faith. The Resurrection
established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as a proof that God
will judge the world in righteousness; the event has also given Christians a
new birth into a living hope. The outstanding theological implication of this great
and important salvific experience is that, through faith in the working of God we
(Christians) are spiritually resurrected with Jesus so that we may walk in a
new way of life. It is against this backdrop, that we are going to reflect on
the lesson of this solemn and unique feast – the Eastertide.
A circumspective look at
the term “Easter” shows that it is in the modern English form, cognate to
modern German ostern, developed from
an Old English word that usually appears in the form Eastrun. It is also called Pasch
(derived, through Latin: Pascha and
Greek Πάσχα Paskha, from Aramaic: פסחא, cognate to Hebrew: פֶּסַח Pesaḥ), or Resurrection Sunday. It
is a festival and holiday celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days after his
crucifixion by Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD (cf. Ferugson, Everett, Baptism in the Early Church: History,
Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries, Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing, 2009, p. 351 ).
In the Christian
tradition the term ‘Pascha’, which originally
denoted the Jewish festival, known in English as Passover, commemorating the
story of the Exodus is employed to mean the festival of Christ’s Resurrection (cf.
Exodus 12:1 ff.). Already in the early 1st century, Paul, on his third
missionary journey writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth, applied
the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian
Christians were the first to hear the term within the context of Exodus chapter
12 being interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the
Jewish Passover ritual. This
solemn Easter Triduum began on Maundy Thursday which is officially referred to
as ‘Holy Thursday’ the commemoration
of the Lord’s last supper followed by Good Friday – which commemorates the crucifixion
and death of Jesus and reached its apogee
on Holy Saturday with Easter vigil.
Having gone through thick and thin of genesis of
this great festival of our salvation, it is therefore of great importance to
elucidate the spiritual imports this ancient event; but with new and deeper meaning
it has for us. Over two thousand years ago, sprout from the tribe of David came
a child whose birth, life and death surrounded with mysteries beyond man. His
coming was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament account. According to
a renowned Jewish Rabbi and Physician Moses Maimonides, the expectation of the
arrival of the Messiah forms part of the twelfth article of faith for the Jews
which says - “I firmly believe in the
coming of the Messiah and even if he comes late, I wait everyday for his
arrival.” For them the expected
Messiah would have political aspiration and mission favourable to them. Not one
who dine and wine with sinners (Lk 19:70); touches lepers (Lk 5:12-16); not one
who saves others but cannot save himself (Lk 23:35) like Jesus. Their
expectation was untimely put to death with the coming of a Messiah whose life
was shrouded with mystery beyond humanity. One whose greatness consists on his immeasurable
meekness and humility towards all but especially the anawims of the society,
that is the retarded and the abandoned; those who needed to be regarded and
treated as ‘sons of Abraham’ and ‘sons of God’ – the orphans, the widows, the
down trodden, the accused, etc. the one who above all conquered death in a
unique way, through the way of the cross and through His glorious Resurrection
to life. (cf. Okoronkwo C., Lecture Notes on Fundamental Scripture, unpublished,
p. 35). Among the Christians, this same Jesus is seen as one with the Father
(Jn 10:30) and who is the ‘Anointed’ of the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:8), the Redeemer
and Comforter of the afflicted. It is this same man that Simeon cried out at
his presentation as the fulfillment of God’s promise, which made himself
manifested as the light to the Gentiles (Lk 2:29 ff.).
Consequently, Christ’s
death gave a new and deeper meaning to man. Easter according to Biblical
scholars is linked to the Passover and Exodus
from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper and
crucifixion that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament,
Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as he prepared Himself and His
disciples for His death in the upper room during the Last Supper. He identified
the matzah and cup of wine as his
body soon to be sacrificed and his blood soon to be shed. Paul states "Get
rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast - as you really
are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed"; this refers to
the Passover requirement to have no yeast in the house and to the allegory of
Jesus as the Paschal lamb. This solemn experience was foretold by the prophets accorded
with many wonderful things about the Passover mystery which is Christ. Bearing
this in mind, Melito of Sardis, one of the leading ancient writers of the
church in his homily on the Pasch;
sees Christ as: the Passover of our salvation, who was present in many so as to
endure many things. In Abel he was slain; in Isaac bound; in Jacob a stranger;
in Joseph sold; in Moses exposed; in David persecuted; in the prophets
dishonoured. He became incarnate of the Virgin. (cf. Homily of Melito of Sardis
on the Pasch Nn. 65-71, The Divine Office vol. II, p. 284) With this symbolic
representation Jesus Christ, he is seen as the mediator between God and man.
His coming was very necessary for the salvation of human race. The account of
Jesus’ death and resurrection as reported by the Evangelist was not to play on
our emotions, but to show us the unconditional love of God upon humanity by
giving out His only begotten son for our salvation (cf. Jn. 3:16)
The joy of Easter cannot be over emphasized; the
pictorial presentation of Jesus as the man wrapped in grief, nailed to that
barren wood and suffered bitter pains has given to the entire human race a sure
hope of salvation. With His death the tree of life is made with the branches of
unfailing yield. Indeed by His Resurrection the chain of slavery has been
broken, the gate of comfort let loosed, man regained his rightful position
after the fall of the first Adam. This salvific event called us to a deeper
attitude of great joy and hope as Easter people. With joy and hope in the risen
Lord, we encounter a different perception of our daily troubles, hardships and
sufferings we experience in our daily journey of life. It is with the spirit of
this unique festival and undoubtable faith in Him, whom we live, move and have
our being that we will be at peace and experience serenity because of the Risen
Lord.
Finally, Easter is the primary act that fulfills the
purpose of Christ's ministry on earth, which include: to defeat death by dying
on the cross and to purify and exalt humanity from the dungeon of sin and give
hope for everlasting life beyond this mortal life that will one day whiter off. As we will patiently wait with
great anticipation of the paraclete in the next fifty days, let us be mindful
of the fact that; Christ’s passion, death and resurrection has purchased for us
a life devoid of pains and the present challenging situation we face in this
present life. And as Easter people may Alleluia continue to be on our lips as
we patiently carrying our daily cross of life through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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