“Hope of the resurrection is our strength”

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Light beams in through the ancient church, landing on the Aedicule - the spot where Jesus' body was laid. photo by Ben Gray

"Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:10

Easter morning stands at the heart of the Christian faith. Our proclamation “Christ is risen” is not simply a memory of an event long past. It is a living message that speaks to the struggles, fears, and hopes of our present life. The resurrection is God’s decisive declaration that life is stronger than death, hope is stronger than despair, and love is stronger than hatred. For this reason, the resurrection is not merely a doctrine to be affirmed but rather a reality that reshapes how we understand God, the world, and our daily lives.

The first Easter began in darkness and uncertainty. The disciples had witnessed the hard events of the crucifixion of their master teacher. Their hopes seemed shattered. The one they believed to be the Messiah had died, and with him their expectations for the future.

When the women went to the tomb early in the morning, they did not go expecting a miracle. They went with grief, carrying spices to honor the dead. Their journey reflects a deeply human experience. When life confronts us with suffering and loss, we often walk through the world with heavy hearts. And yet, what the women discovered was an empty tomb. The resurrection revealed to the women and then the apostles that God was and is still at work in our world, even when it seems all hope is lost.

As I write this year’s Easter message, we are in a time of war. We are living with uncertainty, fear, and broken hearts. Some have asked me, “How do you feel as you experience continuous war and continuous occupation?” I would frankly answer that as an Arab Palestinian Christian I feel the power of loneliness and fear. I feel the weight of an ideology that “might makes right.” We have beautifully written political promises which never materialize in our land.

But then I think, “Why to worry?” Did not my Savior Jesus Christ have the same worry and feel the same weight when he shouted from the cross “Eli, Eli, lama shabachtani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And yet, it was not God who has forsaken us but rather it is humanity and their wrong decisions which have brought us into this war.

The director of Theos, Ms. Chine McDonald writes: “We don’t need hypermasculine world leaders. We need ones who lead like Jesus. This bruised and vulnerable Jesus is the one who offers us a vision of manhood and humanity that runs counter to the dominant narratives we have in our society. Instead of brute strength and dominance, we find sacrificial servanthood. Instead of violence, we find gentleness. Instead of hatred, we find love that poured out for all.”

The power of fear is also controlling our lives in the midst of war. This same feeling drove the apostles to scatter after the detention and crucifixion of their teacher. Some stayed in a closed room because of fear of the authorities (John 20:19). Others escaped with disappointment to their villages to return to an everyday life far from Jerusalem (Luke 24:13-35). It is exactly this same fear that haunts us during the current war.

The power of fear is also controlling our lives in the midst of war. This same feeling drove the apostles to scatter after the detention and crucifixion of their teacher. Some stayed in a closed room because of fear of the authorities (John 20:19). Others escaped with disappointment to their villages to return to an everyday life far from Jerusalem (Luke 24:13-35). It is exactly this same fear that haunts us during the current war.

We have fear because of missiles. We have fear from media machinery and its propaganda. We have fear because human lives continue to be sacrificed for the sake of the rhetoric of war, power, and dominance over others.

We also live with fear because many are calling this a “holy war.” Let us be clear: no war is holy. But when a war occurs in my land, it is seen as a precursor to Armageddon. Many view my land, and my people, as merely characters in an ancient story. This is frightful because it is less about history and much more about the future of our youth, perhaps especially for Arab Palestinian Christianity. Can our youth endure war after war? Can they endure the closure of the West Bank, Israeli settlers’ attacks on Palestinian villages, including the remaining Christian villages?

In this fearful time, the message of Easter comes to offer us consolation. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Easter revives in us the real meaning of hope. Professor Jürgen Moltmann writes that hope is not passive waiting but a “passion for the possible.” It is a driving force that makes the believer restless and impatient with current injustices, sparking in us a desire for world transformation.

Christian hope is a discipline that endures the pain of incompletion. Christian hope is a struggle, but it is also a gift that yields confidence again and again. We experience this hope in moments of life when we are counseled by love, communions, friendship, and solidarity. Hope is our buoy in rough waters.

Hope, therefore, is not based on certainty. It is based on a divine promise that always exceeds our understanding. Hope requires commitment to peace based on justice, and our communal perseverance which helps us to resist despair or cynicism. Hope, in other words, is the very life of Jesus present and visible in our body and in our lives.

Hope, therefore, is not based on certainty. It is based on a divine promise that always exceeds our understanding. Hope requires commitment to peace based on justice, and our communal perseverance which helps us to resist despair or cynicism. Hope, in other words, is the very life of Jesus present and visible in our body and in our lives.

In our pastoral letter is the Lenten season, the Emeritus Roman Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Archbishop Atallah Hanna from the Greek Orthodox Church, Pastor Munther Isaac of the Lutheran Church-Ramallah, and myself called upon our people to look to Christ in this time of war. We must look to Christ because He is the one who is the ultimate source of our comfort and consolation. “Look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

In this dire situation we are facing today, we may take refuge in prayer. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

I ask you then, my siblings in Christ, to pray that this war will end, and that all wars will cease. War is never God’s will for humanity, and violence is never the answer to life and life abundant. The experience of the Palestinian people teaches us that war is never the way to peace. We pray and appeal to world leaders to stop this insanity. We pray to our churches to stand up and distance themselves from the ways of evil and violence. We plead to the world to give us a future based on justice, truth, human dignity, and human rights.

We in the land of the resurrection continue to believe that genuine peace is possible, but it will not be achieved through military power, but rather by justice and only justice, with respect for the humanity of every human being.

For this reason, we remain steadfast in faith and love, even if all human efforts for justice seem to reach a dead end. For we believe in a living God who always brings new life and hope into our world. We continue to pray and to worship a living God, the one who always leads us into a new way—even after death on a cross, Jesus walked out of the tomb and walked into new life with us all.

Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed!

This Good News is our hope and our strength especially in these times.

Our hope is never in vain. From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, even the stones will cry out:

Light is stronger than darkness

Love is stronger than hate

Life is stronger than death!

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!

Al Masih kam! Hakkan kam!

May our Risen Christ bless you and your families, now and forever.

The Rev. Dr. Munib A. Younan