the space in between: Easter

Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

All Things New

"...behold I make all things new..." Rev. 21:5

In an age of unfathomable pain and suffering; at a time of inconceivable disparity between rich and poor; amidst wars and rampant environmental destruction; does the promise of Jesus’ Easter, resurrection still make sense today?

...behold I make all things new...

This is the promise of the ultimate consummation of all things to glory in Christ, whose resurrection assures us that indeed the world can and will change because the one whom God brought upon this earth has dared to challenge its sinful status quo to the point of costing his life has triumph over the greatest potency of sin –death.

...behold I make all things new...

The empty grave of Jesus, tells us that indeed all things are becoming new and that death doesn’t have the final say in the struggle for a better world. It tells us that Christ’s resurrection has turned the tide against the power of sin and death.

At daybreak I heard something that came somewhat like an epiphany.

There in the midst of sunbeams breaking amidst the darkness, the speaker uttered: “shalom”.

Hebrews defined Shalom as a word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare. Its content bears more than language itself can contain in fact it can be understood as the whole essence of the transcendent message of the Christian scriptures, which means more than a state of mind, of being or of affairs.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5

Just as the sun began to rise and the brightness of this Easter dawn was beginning to surround us in our ecumenical worship, water gushed forth from the giant fountain at the Quezon Memorial Circle's Liwasang Aurora, a sight that I would like to believe is God's reminder of the breaking in of His Kingdom of Light that was ushered by the Resurrected Christ who rose from the grave on the third day.

This morning I greeted Easter in a taxi cab.

There I watched the darkness of Black Saturday give way to the piercing light of the Easter dawn. Light beaming, shining brightly as the resurrection hope glistened in the quiet streets of Manila.

Easter was spent early at church with the remembrance of Christ’s death in the Eucharist and the commemoration of dedicating one’s self to the resurrected Christ in the waters of baptism. It is there that it climaxed with the deafening chorus of the Halleluiahs chorus from Handel’s Messiah.

Easter was remembered with a celebration of life that came with a whole day spent in the company of those that I love.

Easter is where love and life is both celebrated and given meaning with the miracle of Christ’s resurrection the triumph of life over death.

Nicky Perlas' Easter reflection

I met him personally, early last year during the formation meeting of the Network Opposed to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (NO to BNPP). He was not your typical picture of an anti-nukes activist, he did not fit into any of the stereotypical look that activists whom I had met had.

On the height of the campaign against the proposed bill to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant I’ve seen him in the protests, symposiums and congressional hearings where at one point he was even crudely confronted by Congressman Mark Cojuangco, the bills chief proponent and there I saw him gracefully disarm Cojuangco by not raising his voice nor did he give out any aggressive gesture towards Cojuangco.

Now he’s running for president, and albeit with the admirable passion of putting what he personally believes in into the fabric of mainstream Philippine politics. Only time will tell, if the general populance will share his vision.

I suppose this is a little bit too late for Easter but here's a very interesting piece that I read from Benedict Groeschel's book entitled Arise from Darkness which I bought a few weeks back when I am asking very deep questions about my local church and I accidentally browsed on a topic in its table of contents entitled: 'when the church lets us down'. Anyways here's an interesting insight that Benedict wrote on Job 19:25.¹

“ My Redeemer – your Redeemer – has the right to be called that because he suffered with us as well as for us. God could have saved us in some simpler, less terrible way than subjecting Himself to the worst that human beings could do, but He wanted us to know how much He loved us when we are in pain and suffering. Salvation surely did not need to come through the murder of the Messiah. But that's how it came, so we could know, in all sufferings and sorrows of life, that our Creator was also our Redeemer, that He would bring joy out of sorrow, hope out of despair, love out of hate, life out of death, eternity out of time. This is our hope. It alone makes sense.”²

notes:

1I know that my Redeemer [a] lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25 (NIV)

2 Benedict Groeschel, Arise From Darkness, p145