Easter Defiance

Easter is the great revolution. The resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of God’s revolt against death. When Adam sinned, death spread through this world like wild fire, just like God had warned it would. But in Jesus Christ, God has spoken a greater word, and in the resurrection of Jesus, that word is, “NO.” No, death may not be the last word. And as we celebrate Easter, as we proclaim Christ is risen, we must recognize those words for the defiance that they are. No, you may not chop up little babies and call it choice: Christ is risen. No, you may not drop bombs on civilians and call it collateral damage: Christ is risen. No, you may not make wicked judgments in favor of the rich and powerful while oppressing the weak and the poor: Christ is risen. No, you may not manipulate, steal, lie, and cheat through unjust weights and measures: Christ is risen. No, you may not persecute our brothers and sisters, seeking to silence the advance of the gospel. You may not fine them, jail them, torture them, and kill them: Christ is risen. Death, we defy you. Powers of darkness, we laugh at you. Christ is risen. Cancer, you are nothing. Disease, you cannot have us. You cannot have this world: Christ is risen. Sickness, poverty, loneliness, depression, addiction, abuse, you and all the works of darkness are the fruits of death, the taskmasters of Satan, the devil, that great dragon of old. But you have been struck down, and our King has risen triumphant over sin and death and darkness, and He holds the keys of death and Hades in His hands. And therefore all these things can only serve Him. All these things can only be used for good in His hands. And otherwise, we are at war with them all. We are the heralds of this good news, and we are the righteousness of God in Him. We are the army of this rebellion. We are the rebels of light. And we lift our defiant cry on this day and every Lord’s Day. Christ is risen, let the darkness flee away.