Easter destroys the ultimate weapon of tyranny
“The resurrection challenges the power of death on which every system of oppression relies. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is accompanied by an earthquake. It’s a fitting detail, because across history, the resurrection has proved to be profoundly destabilizing. By overthrowing the reign of death, it transformed the world.
As British historian Tom Holland has argued, many of the values taken for granted in the West, including respect for the dignity of the individual, concern for the victim and reverence for human rights have come from Christianity — more specifically, from the Easter story. In the resurrection, a beaten, pierced and bloodied body rose from the dead. Weak and suffering flesh — once regarded with contempt — was shown to have an eternal destiny.
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Tyrants have reason to tremble at the good news of the resurrection. By destroying the power of death, it shatters the fear on which they rely. Of course, as long as the rising of Jesus is explained away as a harmless myth or symbol, no oppressor need concern himself with it. But once people start believing that it really happened, despots begin to lose their grip.
The radical nature of the Easter story was evident in the early days of Christianity. When the witnesses to the resurrection declared that Jesus is Lord, they were not trading in blandly spiritual talk. On the contrary, they were challenging the common view that Caesar, backed up by his massive army, was Lord — which is precisely why so many of the first evangelists ended up in Roman prisons.
Easter cannot be domesticated. It does not tell the story of what happened once upon a time, or in a galaxy far, far away. It is an earthquake. It shakes the foundations of the world by proclaiming that death does not have the final say.”
