BISHOP’S EASTER MESSAGE

“Christ the Lord is risen indeed – alleluia!”

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus by the early disciples fast became the bedrock of their claims about his identity, and the necessity of their worship of Him. The resurrection became, as it were, the ultimate proof and source of their conviction, commitment and courage.

It is therefore no small wonder that St. Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:13-19:

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

St. Paul may have been refuting the claims of his opponents in this passage, but in so doing he made it clear as to what constituted the foundation of the Christian faith. And yet the fact of the resurrection means more than simply justifying the claims of believers. It serves as the refutable evidence of the truth of the message and ministry of Jesus. All that Jesus preached and practiced found their ultimate vindication in His resurrection.

His enemies meant for His crucifixion to be the end of Him and His influence; the resurrection made it just the beginning. His opponents had Jesus killed largely because of their intense hatred of Him; the resurrection is the greatest act of divine love. Jesus’ foes hoped that His crucifixion would show Him up to be nothing more than a false prophet and a bearer of ‘bad news’; the resurrection signalled the triumph of truth over falsehood, good over evil, and so is the greatest ‘good news’ the world has ever heard.

We today are inheritors of this greatest of gifts. What are we going to do with it? We must proclaim it loudly and boldly in our homes and workplaces, our schools and churches, on our by-ways and highways; to a world so desperate for the good news which says that failures and set backs are never the final verdict; that right does win over wrong; that love is greater than hatred; and that life with God is far better than life without Him.

Our courage to stand up for our convictions is established in our belief in the resurrection of our Lord. This is so even when everything around us points to the contrary and we tempted to give in or give up. When we rise to fight against injustice and oppression, the evils of society and what is most debased in human behaviour, the imbalances that rob many of their human dignity and potential, and the destruction of the innocence of children; when we do all this, we do so because Christ first rose from the dead thereby proving the truth of his message. We labour on firmly resolved in our own hearts that we too will be vindicated for siding with God; we too will one day be raised to life eternal.

The resurrection of Jesus signals new beginnings, the possibility that what was wrong can be righted, that what was meant for death is now very much alive, that what was once hopelessly beyond restoration is now restored and hope is re-established. It is the message we in this beloved country of ours need to hear. It is the message upon which we can construct the pathway to a brighter future for us all.

Let our festive celebration of Easter, in the truest sense of the word, be a demonstration of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our hope for the fulfilment of all His promises.

Do have a most blessed and safe Easter.

In Christ,

Bishop Philip Wright