The message of Easter

Christians will hear these mysterious words from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans at many of their Easter services: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” — Romans 6:3-4.

Baptized into death? It seems counterintuitive at best and curious material for spiritual reflection on the day of the resurrection. St. Paul makes the point even more directly elsewhere, insisting that he preaches “Christ crucified,” contrary to all worldly wisdom or expectation. Without the resurrection, he teaches, the Christian faith would be in vain, but it remains the cross that is the symbol of the faith.

Today, in t he affluent West, Easter has become resurrection without a crucifixion, a festive brunch without the day of fasting. It has been that way for a long time now. In much of the rest of the world, though, Christians are facing lethal persecution in shocking numbers, mostly because of Islamist extremism, but not exclusively. Crucifixions, astonishingly, have returned, along with beheadings and the more technically efficient means of mass murder. Being baptized into the death of Christ is for many not only a theological mystery, but a clear and present danger.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, recent winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize, was in Canada recently, speaking about his book on religious violence, Not in God’s Name. The former chief rabbi of Great Britain laments that “Christians are being systematically persecuted” today, even while noting that “Muslims form the majority of the victims of Islamist violence.”

“To invoke God to justify violence against the innocent is not an act of sanctity but of sacrilege,” writes Sacks. “It is a kind of blasphemy. It is to take God’s name in vain.”

The 20 th century saw more Christians being killed for their faith than the previous 19 centuries combined. It was the age of atheist totalitarian regimes and mechanized death. The martyrdoms continue in this century, even if the causes are different.

Ten days ago, John Kerry, the U. S. secretary of state, declared that “Daesh ( ISIL) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims.” That step might lead to a more robust defence of religious minorities under threat, but there are also signs that the world is getting accustomed to frequent massacres of religious believers. This week, the Canadian government announced its decision to shut down its office of religious freedom.

Political measures will always prove inadequate. The cross and the empty tomb provide Christians with a theological context to understand suffering for the faith. Christ promised his disciples that they would not be spared what he freely chose to suffer. That prophecy has been fulfilled. Against a culture that slouches toward indulgence as an end in itself and drifts toward indifferentism, the cries of the martyrs ought to pierce the complacent consciences of the comfortable. Is the faith that Christians are dying f or something worth living for?

Christians are right to raise their voices against the slaughter of their fellow believers. They are right to insist that their governments act for their protection. They are obligated to offer concrete acts of solidarity to those whose lives are threatened. Yet the spectre of martyrdom also constitutes a challenge to Christians who are otherwise safe and secure. The loss of religious liberty is never to be welcomed and always to be protested, but outright religious persecution does provoke a clarifying moment. The courage of the martyrs is literally meant to encourage — to strengthen the courage of others.

The Christian Scriptures do not hide it. On that first Good Friday in Jerusalem, many of Christ’s followers failed the test of fidelity, fleeing in the moment of trial. A few were faithful. Today, there are a great many who remain faithful in the face of certain death. They are to be admired and, hoping the day does not come, emulated.

Those who are killing Christians today hope to kill the faith, to bury it in the tomb and seal it with the stone. The message of Easter is that this can be tried — many have done just that across the centuries — but that it will not succeed.

To our readers, a Happy Easter!