Pacha, or Easter, this year will be profoundly different for many of us than most years. The 40 day fasting period, or lent, before Easter, has been a period when whole nations have had to give up their normal way of life. It hasn't been so much a question of voluntarily giving up a cherished food, or event, or habit, as one of enforced disruption of many of the daily routines and necessities of life. For many it has become a time of anxiety and fear, even without the threat of death by virus.
I don't recall any Easter or lent during which sickness and death has been so prominent in the formal and public media. We are bombarded daily with the numbers of new confirmed cases of covid-19 and of deaths from it. Day by day the increase of new deaths over yesterday's count is forced on any who read the papers, watch the news on TV or follow people on whatever social forum they choose. We are constantly reminded of what we must do if we are to avoid becoming ill, or what we must do if we, in spite of our efforts, become suspicious that we have become smitten. Those of us over 70 are warned that not only are we at greatest risk of dying, we are also those who must curtail our normal lives to protect those of others.
The scriptures have several "red threads" that run from the beginning to the end. The nexus of relationship, life, and death is one of them. This one becomes especially prominent at Pascha-Easter.
On the first Passover, each household was instructed to sacrifice a lamb or kid, and paint its blood on the doorframe of their home. They were to roast and eat the lamb together, inside the house. It was a family affair, the protected the first born son, and the ritual was to become an annual memorial, practised and respected by all households in the community of Israel.
That Passover the Lord made a profound distinction between his people and the people of Egypt. For the Hebrews it was a solumn day, to be observed strictly, but it was also a day of liberation and freedom from slavery. For the Egyptians it was a day of great sorrow, remorse that then turned to rage and the seeking of revenge.
Jesus and his disciples had a supper together before the Passover was to be celibrated. It was a different supper. Jesus introduced new symbols for its celebration - symbols that also spoke of life and joy - bread and wine, symbols also of joyful relationship and community. And yet, Jesus, used them to symbolise His own role in becoming the Lamb of God, whose death was to protect all who believed in him, from a greater Death.
His Death, so different from the death of lambs or kids because He rose again, is commemorated even today in our "Breaking of Bread," "communion service," "Lord's Supper," "mass" or be whatever name we used. It is a memorial service we hold TOGETHER, as One worldwide Body, in a fellowship united with God Himself, a nation of priests, a temple to our God, a holy nation.
When we look around, we see that throughout nature, most life forms are totally dependent on death, whether animal or plant, large of small. Life and death are intertwined, it seems at least on this planet, inseparable. We look around now, in this time of pestilence, and see the enormous efforts being made to prolong life, to save life. From one perspective, this is totally and ironically, hopelessly futile. "It is given unto men once to die..." All of us will die. (Even those who may be "caught up in the air" when the Lord returns, will experience a transformation that must see the death of this natural body, replaced with a glorious one.)
Jesus taught us how to live with death, indeed how to use death, to gain life. On the one hand He proved his victory over death, by dying and "breaking out" of the kingdom of death, taking "its keys" with him. He presented literally hundreds of people with evidence of his resurrection. And He has made that resurrection life availble to us.
But more than that he urged us to "deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him." Interpreted by Paul, we are to die to our fleshly desires, put them to death, because only then can we be alive to Christ; only then can Christ live in and through us, His resurrection life. Easter is to be a daily exercise, baptism is to be our normal state of mind.
More than most Easters we can see this being put into practice, as thousands of men and women put their lives at stake to save the lives of others in the face of the coronavirus. In the face of their own fear of being smitten, they work extra long hours, with inadequate resources, including protective clothing, to ease the pain, worry, and suffering of others. Many of the rest of us experience inconvenience, of different degrees certainly, and quite a few are put in especially difficult circumstances.
Health professionals, epidemiologists, and researchers claim to have found the most probably source of the virus. And it turns out to be due to "our" own behavioural patterns and drives. "We" have brought this on ourselves, as we have done many times previously.
Easter celebrates a death that was entirely voluntary, entirely for the sake of others, a death that by all the local rules of justice, should not have occurred, an execution that was allowed to go ahead to avoid a riot and the loss of face.
But a death that resulted in a victory over death, and a whole new quality of life made available to all who wish to participate. A resurrection life that can only be acquired through a surrender of our current life, and a belief in the one who rose from the dead - our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is with us in this pandemic. He foresaw it (and many like it) way back in Old Testament times (2 Chronicles 7:13-15) “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain (think Australia, California, southern Africa), or command locusts to devour the land (think the Horn of Africa) or send a plague among my people (think globally), if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place."
Now more than ever people may turn to God for help, for strength, for comfort, for encourgement, for peace of mind and soul. And we who believe, can "in these circumstances give thanks." God can turn this pandemic into a revival. Lets pray and watch as He does it! May this Easter see His life shine forth more than ever before!
I don't recall any Easter or lent during which sickness and death has been so prominent in the formal and public media. We are bombarded daily with the numbers of new confirmed cases of covid-19 and of deaths from it. Day by day the increase of new deaths over yesterday's count is forced on any who read the papers, watch the news on TV or follow people on whatever social forum they choose. We are constantly reminded of what we must do if we are to avoid becoming ill, or what we must do if we, in spite of our efforts, become suspicious that we have become smitten. Those of us over 70 are warned that not only are we at greatest risk of dying, we are also those who must curtail our normal lives to protect those of others.
The scriptures have several "red threads" that run from the beginning to the end. The nexus of relationship, life, and death is one of them. This one becomes especially prominent at Pascha-Easter.
On the first Passover, each household was instructed to sacrifice a lamb or kid, and paint its blood on the doorframe of their home. They were to roast and eat the lamb together, inside the house. It was a family affair, the protected the first born son, and the ritual was to become an annual memorial, practised and respected by all households in the community of Israel.
That Passover the Lord made a profound distinction between his people and the people of Egypt. For the Hebrews it was a solumn day, to be observed strictly, but it was also a day of liberation and freedom from slavery. For the Egyptians it was a day of great sorrow, remorse that then turned to rage and the seeking of revenge.
Jesus and his disciples had a supper together before the Passover was to be celibrated. It was a different supper. Jesus introduced new symbols for its celebration - symbols that also spoke of life and joy - bread and wine, symbols also of joyful relationship and community. And yet, Jesus, used them to symbolise His own role in becoming the Lamb of God, whose death was to protect all who believed in him, from a greater Death.
His Death, so different from the death of lambs or kids because He rose again, is commemorated even today in our "Breaking of Bread," "communion service," "Lord's Supper," "mass" or be whatever name we used. It is a memorial service we hold TOGETHER, as One worldwide Body, in a fellowship united with God Himself, a nation of priests, a temple to our God, a holy nation.
When we look around, we see that throughout nature, most life forms are totally dependent on death, whether animal or plant, large of small. Life and death are intertwined, it seems at least on this planet, inseparable. We look around now, in this time of pestilence, and see the enormous efforts being made to prolong life, to save life. From one perspective, this is totally and ironically, hopelessly futile. "It is given unto men once to die..." All of us will die. (Even those who may be "caught up in the air" when the Lord returns, will experience a transformation that must see the death of this natural body, replaced with a glorious one.)
Jesus taught us how to live with death, indeed how to use death, to gain life. On the one hand He proved his victory over death, by dying and "breaking out" of the kingdom of death, taking "its keys" with him. He presented literally hundreds of people with evidence of his resurrection. And He has made that resurrection life availble to us.
But more than that he urged us to "deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him." Interpreted by Paul, we are to die to our fleshly desires, put them to death, because only then can we be alive to Christ; only then can Christ live in and through us, His resurrection life. Easter is to be a daily exercise, baptism is to be our normal state of mind.
More than most Easters we can see this being put into practice, as thousands of men and women put their lives at stake to save the lives of others in the face of the coronavirus. In the face of their own fear of being smitten, they work extra long hours, with inadequate resources, including protective clothing, to ease the pain, worry, and suffering of others. Many of the rest of us experience inconvenience, of different degrees certainly, and quite a few are put in especially difficult circumstances.
Health professionals, epidemiologists, and researchers claim to have found the most probably source of the virus. And it turns out to be due to "our" own behavioural patterns and drives. "We" have brought this on ourselves, as we have done many times previously.
Easter celebrates a death that was entirely voluntary, entirely for the sake of others, a death that by all the local rules of justice, should not have occurred, an execution that was allowed to go ahead to avoid a riot and the loss of face.
But a death that resulted in a victory over death, and a whole new quality of life made available to all who wish to participate. A resurrection life that can only be acquired through a surrender of our current life, and a belief in the one who rose from the dead - our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is with us in this pandemic. He foresaw it (and many like it) way back in Old Testament times (2 Chronicles 7:13-15) “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain (think Australia, California, southern Africa), or command locusts to devour the land (think the Horn of Africa) or send a plague among my people (think globally), if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place."
Now more than ever people may turn to God for help, for strength, for comfort, for encourgement, for peace of mind and soul. And we who believe, can "in these circumstances give thanks." God can turn this pandemic into a revival. Lets pray and watch as He does it! May this Easter see His life shine forth more than ever before!
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