Easter Sunday: New Creation
A Reflection by Jesse Steven Wheeler*
This is the story of new creation’s birth, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”
Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb.
—Luke 24:1–12 (NIV)
It must be emphasized that the first witnesses to and proclaimers of the good news of the resurrection were the women. This is no accident. Luke even makes a point of highlighting the fact that the very first gospel presentation was dismissed by the men, an unfortunately all too common occurrence in this day and age as well. Jesus, however, centers and amplifies the stories of women at critical moments throughout his story, beginning to end, and entrusts them with the preaching of the great news to the other disciples.
Ultimately, what the resurrection represents is the vindication of Christ before those earthen embodiments of the beast, those brokers of wealth, power, violence at whose hands he was crucified. For in the resurrection, death has lost its sting. The authorities, having played their hand, exhausted the only true power they had and lost the war. As a result, our own hope for resurrection frees us to give generously rather than hoard, lay down our arms in the pursuit of peace, and speak truth to the lies of power. In the words of N.T. Wright,
What we are witnessing in the resurrection stories . . . is the birth of new creation. The power that has tyrannized the old creation has been broken, defeated, overthrown. God’s kingdom is now launched, and launched in power and glory, on earth as in heaven. This is what Jesus said would happen within the lifetime of his hearers. A new power is let loose in the world, the power to remake what was broken, to heal what was diseased, to restore what was lost.
To which he adds, "New creation has begun; and its motivating power is love.” With faith in the resurrection, our hope is alive!
So, what does it look like to live as people of the new creation in the midst of the old creation? What does it mean for us to walk with hope in the midst of despair? To pursue life when surrounded by so much death? Our eyes our open to world as it is, but our hope for a new order is alive!
Let us pray the following prayer, adapted from Walter Rauschenbusch:
Christ, you have bidden us pray for the coming of your Father’s kingdom, in which his righteous will shall be done on earth. We have treasured your words, but we have forgotten their meaning, and your great hope has grown dim in your church. We bless you for the inspired souls of all ages who saw afar the shining city of God, and by faith left the profit of the present to follow their vision. We rejoice that today the hope of these lonely hearts is becoming the clear faith of millions. Help us, O Lord, in the courage of faith to seize what has now come so near, that the glad day of God may dawn at last. We have mastered nature that we might gain wealth; help us now to master the social relations of humankind that we may gain justice and a world of brothers and sisters.
For what shall it profit our nation if it gain numbers and riches, and lose the sense of the living God and the joy of human siblinghood? Make us determined to live by truth and not by lies, to found our common life on the eternal foundations of righteousness and love, and no longer to prop up the tottering house of wrong by legalized cruelty and force. Help us to make the welfare of all the supreme law of our land, that so our commonwealth may be built strong and secure on the love of all its citizens. Cast down the throne of Mammon who ever grinds the life of women and men, and set up your throne, O Christ, for you died that people might live. Show your erring children at last the way from the City of Destruction to the City of Love, and fulfil the longings of the prophets of humanity. Our master, once more we make your faith our prayer: “Thy kingdom Come! Thy will on earth be done!”
—Walter Rauschenbusch (1910)
Join Sabeel founder Rev. Canon Naim Ateek and Rev. Dr. B. De Neice Welch, as well as global representatives from the international Sabeel movement, next Tuesday for our annual Easter in Jerusalem virtual service. Register Today!
We also wish a very blessed Palm Sunday to our Orthodox friends and family!
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Our Hope is Alive!
Justice and peace form the basis of the vision of the international Sabeel movement; however, we feel that, under the present circumstances, we are further away from both justice and peace these days than we have ever been. All efforts to reach a relative justice whereby both Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace, sharing one Holy Land, have failed.
However, we continue to believe that now, more than ever, the work of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) is incredibly relevant and deeply important. We should not despair, despite all the challenges and feelings of hopelessness.
So we appeal to you from the land of the resurrection, our dear friends, to reach out and support the work of FOSNA during this Lenten and Easter season, so that we can continue to work together to serve the cause of justice and peace in Palestine and Israel, the land of the Holy One.
Many Blessings,
Samia Khoury, Co-Founder
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem
*excerpt from Jesse Steven Wheeler, Serving a Crucified King: Meditations on Faith, Politics, and the Unyielding Pursuit of God’s Reign (Eugene: Resource Publications, 2021)