For Later and For Now

Christ’s victory over death means many things for us. What better proof of life after death, that the resurrection provides? What confirmation of the truth of what Jesus taught, for how to live here and now? What more convincing way to show our God’s kind of strength – to turn loss, even tragedy, into something good, into hope? That “with God, nothing will be impossible.”

Easter also speaks to even more basic aspects of our lives. Such as, what are we worth? Are we animals, one more step evolved? Are we but tiny components of a nation, of the “human swarm?”

Easter speaks to the value of people as individuals. Our worth, regardless of our status or station in life. Atheist philosopher Luc Ferry, author of the best-selling book “A Brief History of Thought” credits Christianity with creating the idea that all people have dignity. And for him it’s rooted in Christ's resurrection. Ferry writes, "The entire originality of the Christian message resides in good news of immortality – resurrection, in other words, and not merely of souls but of individual human bodies".

Similarly, historian Paul Veyne (who also calls himself an "unbeliever") extols the message of human dignity in the sacrificial love and death of Jesus.

"[In the gospel, a person's life] suddenly acquired an eternal significance within a cosmic plan, something that no philosophy or paganism could confer. The pagan gods lived for themselves. In contrast, Christ, the Man-God sacrificed himself for his people. Christianity owed its success to a collective invention of genius, namely, the infinite mercy of a God passionate about the fate of the human race. And not just those of empires and the human race in general. But indeed about the fate of each individual soul, including mine and yours."

From individual dignity to hope in the world. And for the world. Christian leader / Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted: "Socrates mastered the art of dying; Christ overcame death as "the last enemy" (1 Corinthians 15:26). There is a real difference between the two things. One is within the scope of human possibilities. The other means resurrection. It's not from the “art of dying” but from the resurrection of Christ, that a new and purifying wind can blow through our present world. If a few people really believed that and acted on it in their daily lives, a great deal would be changed. To live in the light of the resurrection – that is what Easter means."

For later in heaven, but also for now on earth, Easter makes all the difference!