Easter morning in Penang: A new beginning
Easter is the greatest festival in the Christian calendar – more important than Christmas.
Christians believe that was the day Jesus triumphed over Death and appeared to his followers.
As theologian Marcus Borg notes, he was executed by the Empire but vindicated by God. Too often, we only look at the message of personal and spiritual transformation that Easter heralds.
But there is also a political message. Jesus advocated a politics of compassion – he had a vision of society that is just and inclusive, where even the outcasts and the marginalised would be invited to the heavenly banquet.
He challenged the ruling elite of his time who were oppressing and exploiting the poor. During the time of Jesus, Palestine was under Roman occupation. He lived in a peasant society in which burdensome taxes were imposed on the 90 per cent of the population who were peasants. The elites and their retainers, who made up the remaining 10 per cent, controlled two-thirds of the wealth.
Early Christians proclaimed “Jesus is Lord!” That itself was a subversive post-Easter message – for Caesar was then the Emperor and deemed by Roman imperial theology to be divine. In the context of the times – and even today – that proclamation carries an added meaning: God, rather than Caesar or any other worldly overlords, is the real Lord!
When Jesus appeared after the resurrection, he passed a message to his followers that he could be found in Galilee. Galilee was the place that Jesus first proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand – a kingdom of justice, peace and compassion. Thus, anyone working to realise that kingdom, which Jesus so passionately proclaimed, would find and be guided by the presence of the living Spirit of God.
God has conquered Death and is very much interested in the Lives of the people of his kingdom. His Spirit lives on in all those who participate in building a kingdom that is just, compassionate and inclusive. His Spirit will guide us towards refashioning and recreating the world the way God wants it to be.
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Amen! Have u checked out Marcus Borg and NT Wright’s book “The meaning of jesus”? Sounds some of the notes in the blog post
Keep up good work
hi anil,human being is divided by race and color,but the most stupid thing in human life is divided by religion.no religion in this world teaching us bad thing,but human created the divider between us in form of religion.please think about it.thanks.raj raman.religion;my problem to anwser to god.race.dreaming to b malaysian putera.
He has Risen, INDEED! Praise God for His faithfulness, mercy and grace towards us and our land! I believe God will continue to work in and through our land in a wonderful way as we continue to pray and intercede. This beloved land of God will rise up as a great nation of the world if we allow Him to intervene and indeed His mighty works has already begun…
Sorry, correct name of blog is
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Samuel Goh Kim Eng.
23rd March 2008.
EASTER GREETING TO ALL!
As the sun rises this morning
The Son of God is risen
As we celebrate this Easter morning
No more mourning as Jesus is risen!
(C)Samuel Goh Kim Eng
http://MotivationInbMotion.blogspot.com
http://msi.Rocky101.com
Sun. 23rd March 2008.
There is much confusion today in regard to the real full gospel. We stop with the first half – the cross, where the penalty for our sins was paid by Jesus, and reconciliation occurred between sinful man and Holy God. If we stop at the cross and do not continue on from the cross, through Christ’s resurrection, we miss the main benefit which the Lord Jesus came to give us – resurrected life! We become the beneficiaries of forgiveness, but do not receive eternal life to enable us to experience it. Salvation is being made alive from spiritual death. The… Read more »
Bro anil,
God is working in us as He is the Living One. He is God of Peace, and only peace shall rule.
Amen! Great to hear a fellow believer in Malaysia speak of the political implications of Christ’s sacrifice and victory.
Easter is an ancient observation and has been celebrated by the pagans way, way back before christ.