Commentary: Easter is the time to give consideration to the resurrection

As we near Easter, I think of the time Irish writer and philosopher Peter Rollins took up the question of whether he affirms or denies the resurrection of Christ.

His answer: “Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think.”

For a person who writes about religious matters, that sounds a bit irreligious, doesn’t it? But, Rollins’ explanation turn his words from the irreligious to the profound: “I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.”

This Sunday, Christians throughout the world will be celebrating the resurrection of Christ through liturgy, songs, words of hope, even bright finery. We will speak of an event from 2,000 years ago. We will read accounts of that fate-filled morning. We will share both the joy and amazement of those who first heard that, in Christ, life overcomes death.

Those stories will also speak of fear and trembling. The presence of those emotions remind us that Jesus’ death was an execution, a public declaration that he was a blasphemer of God and an enemy of the state. For the early church, proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection was a dangerous affair, a perilous way of defying both religious and civil authorities.

What Rollins reminds us is that even today affirming or denying the resurrection of Christ is not simply a profession of words spoken in the context of a safe and secure worship environment. It continues to be a call to live dangerously.

“However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are,” Rollins continues. “I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.”

In a world where Christians are subject to terror in Egypt while celebrating Palm Sunday, where Syrians are attacked with chemical weapons, where mosques and synagogues are vandalized with the graffiti of hate, and where immigrants are presumed guilty, Easter matters.

The resurrection that many of us will proclaim in liturgy and song on Easter Sunday is not an annual religious ritual. It is way of living that walks in genuine solidarity with anyone who is victimized by the hubris of the powerful, because resurrection means the culture of death will never have the last word.

MARK DAVIS is the pastor of St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach.