Who Was the Resurrected Jesus of Nazareth?

When the sun rises and spreads its light upon the world and on our lives, the darkness of the night and death is gone. The coming of the light is hope and strength for all people of good will. The Resurrection is more than a historical, physical rising from the dead. It is the belief that the spirit and presence of Jesus of Nazareth is with us and his friendship is available to all who want a new, happier life doing good and helping others.

No matter the hardship and pain we suffer and endure, we can have hope and faith that love, goodness and the truth will one day beat back the bad, conquer evil, bring the unjust and cruel to justice. The force of goodness and love will lift up the poor from misery, bring comfort to the wretched, give equality to the oppressed, healing to the sick, freedom to the prisoners, food for the hungry, a home to refugees, liberation to the abused and peace for victims of violence.

These are the great values that this charismatic and amazing character Jesus of Nazareth brought into the world with such unshakeable conviction and force that they have lasted to the present. He was the son of a carpenter and of a simple mother and they lived in a remote village. He had little formal learning, had no status, no connections, no wealth or influence. Yet he changed the world. He grew to be a person of character and integrity. He was wise with incredible foresight and understanding of human nature, self-confident, steadfast and uncorrupted. He was a born leader.

When he decided to go and be baptized by John, he was wised to the political corruption, the evils, killings and murders of King Herod. He was wise to the hypocrisy of the landowners and temple priests who rejected John because he called for social reform and transformation of the nation, a return to trust and faithfulness to God and the commandments. Jesus wanted the same but after a sojourn in the desert, he emerged with a plan. The nation must change, not by an outward baptism, but by total transformation and a complete change in the unjust system. This was a nation ruled by dynastic families that held power and ruled the poor with a harsh regime and easily killed them for their perceived acts of immorality and breaking their strict laws. There was a rebel movement too, Zealots led by a Judas the Galilean, against the ruling elite and the Romans. Jesus did not join them. He chooses non-violence and to persuade and invite the rich and the poor, to reform and totally change society by choosing goodness, truth, justice, commitment to social reform and equality based on the respect and upliftment of the poor.  

  

He wanted everyone to be free from the grip and evil of the unjust system. He set out to negate the power of abusers, oppressors and dictators by a people power revolution but by persuasion, reason, teaching and practicing what he preached. He was an open, friendly person. He understood the hardship of the ordinary person and had true empathy for them. They were the oppressed, the poor, the outcasts and marginalized people. He had great compassion for them and a message that one day, they would inherit the earth. They could overcome poverty and oppression one day.

He mingled with the outcasts of society, the beggars, the commercially exploited women, tax collectors, those despised, slaves and victims of injustice. He declared to the world that they are precious and of great value in themselves and to God. Evil, he taught, comes from evil people  and love comes from God.

He was charismatic and was sought after to give a talk or tell a parable. He sat with the priests and members of the ruling class and tried to persuade them to change and be compassionate and forgiving and change the corrupt unjust system. This was his mission and it was to be achieved by his followers through their personal commitment to bring equality, justice and love of the stranger into society.

   

He took no titles, wore no crown, avoided stardom and celebrity status and taught everyone to be washers of feet. He taught that those who sought status should be servants of the poor, helpers of the downcast, uplifters of the sad and supporters to the depressed. He gave the example and washed feet, a servant’s job. He challenged each follower to strive to be honest, to be a person of integrity, to love the truth, to tell no lies, never to cheat, always to be compassionate and  fight for justice. He said that he was just one of the people, a son of mankind, one of the masses. He challenged hypocrisy, was angry with those who lacked respect for children and said the children were the most important in the kingdom. He respected traditions but was not bound by them.  

He was independent of all, bound to none, controlled by nobody. He was free to think, speak and live a life of personal freedom and goodness and showed how we all can have renewed lives and be pure of mind and heart.

Jesus of Nazareth is a model, he overcame the pain of those betrayers and unfaithful followers who turned against him. He remained a faithful friend and is trustworthy. He is alive today and his spirit is the way for many to live again, an inspiration for many who have lost their way. He is the shining light for any who live in darkness and despair and long for freedom from addiction, loneliness, meaningless lives and are dependent on drugs, alcohol, crime, sex and pleasure seeking for he understands that they are running from their own demons, escaping from their own pains of childhood and abuse. They have suffered neglect and loveless lives and from what they suffered they are broken and need healing. They worship gods of gold, pleasure, power, and materialistic idols, follow celebrities that give no hope, love, compassion, forgiveness or support.

Jesus of Nazareth understands the human condition, the weakness and temptations that bring us down. He forgives wrong-doers when they humbly admit their fault, confess their crime and repent, do penance and make restitution to their victims. All who choose to act for goodness and truth will come alive and experience a resurrection and they can live in friendship and trust. They will find who they are and what they can be.

When We Celebrate Easter

Easter is the time we recall the tragic events of two thousand and nineteen years ago when a Jew, a man from Palestine, was spied upon, betrayed, persecuted, falsely charged, vilified, abandoned and arrested. It started in a mock trial that handed down the death penalty for the man from Nazareth, the Son of Man, a Son of God, Jesus.

We also celebrate the resilience, the determination and the belief and hope of the persecuted and oppressed to rise up and speak out and challenge the forces of their oppression.

They that suffer on a cross of oppression can rise to a new life .These are the brave and courageous  seekers of truth and freedom and live in hope of justice and true democracy and equality.  

Jesus overcame the power of death and his spirit lives among us, inspiring and encouraging all to put his values into action for social and political transformation to create a just society however distant that reality may be. He was a simple teacher of values. He taught by stories and he was a social activist who spoke against the evils of the authorities, spoke truth to power and he paid the price. He was a critic and a threat to the authorities having exposed their hypocrisy, ill-gotten wealth and evil ways.

The followers of Jesus of Nazareth were falsely accused and the corrupt authorities spread black propaganda against them. The nation’s leaders called him and his followers ‘enemies of the state’ to be crushed, killed and eliminated. Today, many seekers of justice and truth suffer the same.

There was widespread persecution of Christians then and even in these modern times. Why is this so when all they are doing is good? The early Christians led by Jesus were teaching moral values, social justice, equality, the dignity of women and children, just wages for workers, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, challenging the rich to share with the poor and to create a just society and giving hope and happiness to many people.

The authorities and corrupt elite were guilty of stealing from the temple coffers and nation and they spied, harassed and condemned Jesus, an innocent critic condemned to death while they, the corrupt elite, were wearing a mask of pious virtue and draped in a cloak of hypocrisy. Much is so true today.

They declared they were saving the nation and that Jesus should be executed to save the nation.To save it from what social justice, love, healing and compassion and forgiveness? Today, like him, human rights workers, church people, outspoken truth-seeking clerics are vilified and condemned.

Jesus grew up, the son of a carpenter, a humble but very wise man, a prodigy some say, with incredible insight, compassion, understanding, and knowledge of human nature. His dramatic message was that of equality among all, the rich had to share so the poor would no longer be poor and social justice would reign and oppression would end. Today, societies are far from this standard.

He challenged the ruling powers in Jerusalem. The people lived in fear of the tyranny of the rich elite. Yet even today, despite this same oppression and persecution, true Christians and believers in the principles of justice and the rule of just law have the courage to take a stand for life. They fight for human rights and dignity, the environment, the poor and the indigenous people. People are resisting peacefully and taking a stand.This is the only real meaning of being a true Christian or a person of principle. Let's be one with them.

Attending the Easter rites could be a spiritual experience yet it is more of a cultural event as Catholicism ever closer adheres to rites that most people don’t understand. We ought to be making a spiritual and practical commitment to act for the values of the Gospel and the struggle for social justice that Jesus promoted and died for.

Before the arresting officers arrived to take away this good loving person to torture and crucify on a cross, he left behind a simple reminder of the values that he lived and died for. He had a Jewish Passover meal, which he turned into a simple meal of friendship with his followers and friends. Do this in memory of me, he said.

He is still alive and his spirit is upon us who believe. When we do join in the Last Supper, let us recall, he was a washer of feet, a servant to all and he gave us human dignity and the chance to serve the people in need.

The Meaning of Easter

This is the sacred time of year when we recall the life and death and resurrection of Jesus,the man from Nazareth. His life commitment to  goodness and self-sacrifice as a champion of the poor and the oppressed led to his arrest torture and execution at the hands of the unjust and cruel authorities. He and his mission did not die and disappear forever nailed to the cross of the Roman execution squad. 

His person and his mission lives on in people of faith.He rose from the dead and the life giving values he gave the world unselfish love, compassion, justice, mercy, human rights and dignity has changed the lives of millions. By his example, his teaching,story telling and wisdom he inspired generations to be his followers. He called everyone to repent,change their lives and become people of God not people of the selfish greedy world. But the powers that ruled were hard of heart,they opposed him,they spied on him,they sought ways to accuse him of heresy or an act of subversion so they could stop his transforming and liberating work.

He had no riches,exercised no power,only that of love and friendship,he challenged the rich and the powerful,he called them to repent,have compassion for the poor, the sick, hungry, dispossessed and downtrodden people. He challenged them to share their wealth, help those striving to reform society, make it into a"Kingdom",not of selfish pleasure seeking people, but the Kingdom of people that love goodness, justice and the poor. He wanted a complete change of mind and heart and equality for all.  

When asked by those seeking his favor and wanting to be named as the most important, he shocked them all when he selected a child from the fringes of the crowd.Children were without status or position and he selected a child  and said  "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me"(Matthew 18)

The most forgotten and most vulnerable of all were the children and he established their inalienable rights and dignity above all else.

This great truth revealed by Jesus of Nazareth has been downplayed and forgotten  throughout history and the rights of the child have been established only in our generation. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and many national and international laws are now protecting them. But not being well implemented. They are much too late for millions of abused and neglected and starving children throughout history and even until today. Not all people or societies respect and implement child protection laws and give them the respect and care they are due.

Pope Francis has made strong statements and actions to apologize on behalf of the church as an institution for the abuse of children and youth by clergy and bishops. He took responsibility for the child abuse crimes of the past and asked forgiveness of the victims and survivors. Asking forgiveness is an admission of guilt but a heavy burden, undeserved, for Pope Francis.

But most victims want justice and strong action against all abusers,whether they be clergy, parents or members of any profession.Hundreds of priests have been fired others jailed in recent years. Guidelines are in place to stop the abuse and church authorities must act quickly to secure the evidence against any alleged abuser and bring him to justice as the evidence so warrants. They must never cover up a crime.

Jesus was clear about this while preaching forgiveness and compassion for the repentant sinner. He also said that the guilty should be given punishment. In the Gospel of Matthew (18; 6) it refers to tying a millstone around the neck of the child abuser proven guilty and thrown into the deepest ocean. I am not advocating the death penalty but the end of impunity for many child abusers especially clergy and those who protect them. Good non-corrupt Investigators,prosecutors and judges can do justice for the children.The corrupt authorities are bribe takers and let them go free to abuse more  children.It will be bad for them who cause such injustice against children and the innocent, Jesus said. Hell on earth or in the after life waits them he warned.

Jesus of Nazareth died so that there would be a just society and where protection, dignity and justice for all and especially the victims of abuse and oppression would be respected and upheld.

The authorities could not accept the truth he spoke that they were oppressing and exploiting the poor and vulnerable people and so they had Jesus falsely accused ,arrested and executed. It was murder arranged by false allegations.Throughout history the corrupt rich are doing the same. Hundreds of human rights advocates and defenders, pastors, priests, social workers have been assassinated for following the example of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Catholic Philippines hundreds including priests have been shot dead for taking a stand for social justice and human rights.

We have to think of these realities of life today when we look on a crucifix.It's not a piece of jewelry but was a cruel instrument of death  and is now symbolic of the murder of good people working for justice.Yet just as he overcame death his message lives on so too the death of his followers today will not be forgotten but will inspire many more to step into the gap and continue working for equality, freedom, justice and human rights for all.That's the meaning of Easter and the resurrection. 

Can We Believe and Achieve the Resurrection?

Christians have celebrated the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, we have recalled the dramatic events in that life of one who brought into the world the unconditional, self- sacrificing love that makes us so human and so divine. When we love others like the Good Samaritan, generous, self-giving to a stranger, to a victim, the way Jesus himself did, risking all for the dignity and the rights of others, we can hope for eternal life.
Perhaps we don’t have to risk all as he did confronting the corruption and the hypocrisy of the elite and the religious authorities, who executed him, but by living a life for others and not ourselves as he taught. If we can, then perhaps we can evolve to a higher spiritual level and experience our own resurrection.

We may reach that level of goodness and spiritual maturity that will enable us to cross successfully to the life of eternal goodness beyond the grave and as Jesus did and we could overcome death and live forever. That is the dream of all people of faith; to unite with the God of eternal love and gain eternity. Death that ends in nothingness is difficult to accept and contemplate but the faith and belief in life hereafter and in the Resurrection is what gives us hope and the strength to live an unselfish life.

But let’s not make seeking eternity the reason for doing good, we can become selfish, seeking our own personal happiness in eternity when we ought to help others without seeking any reward. What will be will be. If we thought about it getting eternity for our selves too much, it can be self-defeating.

It’s not such a great leap of faith to believe in the resurrection, millions do. Believing is one thing but achieving it is another. Therein is the real challenge to live a worthy and noble life of virtue and service for others. Jesus set a high standard and we got to share and bear to achieve that standard. Many true Christians quietly follow the example of Jesus and share humbly their worldly goods without seeking reward and praise and glorification. They are in solidarity with the poor, and promote justice and love in the world and quietly help others. They are on the road to eternal life.

In this world there are "resurrections" too. I have seen them. When the abused and brutalized children find safety and protection, love, care, inspiration, and affirmation, they can rise from the depths of despair and hopelessness and live again. I witness this daily as the victims of sexual abuse, brutality and neglect, those long suffering unjust incarceration in filthy rat infested jails are freed and given support and respect, they rise from the dead as it were. Spiritual death is the result of the deprivation of love and friendship.

Jessica was 14, a beautiful looking child, although disabled, she was trying her best to make a place for herself in this world. She went to school and did her best to endure the teases and jeers.

She is a child that suffered from polio and had a disability with walking and speech and was vulnerable and defenseless when she was set upon by the rapists and abusers. As a polio victim for which there was no help whatsoever, she was neglected, and left as a freak by her family and could not go to school for fear of being jeered by the other children. She had a normal intelligence but was unable to grow and develop. When she was first abused by a gang of rapists, she became like a living dead. She was unable to speak, to look at anyone, and she hardly ate. She was a living skeleton, malnourished and had no will to live. She was dead, one could say.

When she was found by Preda social workers she asked for help and was given refuge and shelter at the Preda Girls' Home. The gang rape was the most traumatic thing in her life and her parents ignored it. They feared retaliation from the families of the boys who were rich and powerful.

Jessica recounted all to the therapists and found the love and attention and care she longed for in the family of the Girls' home and began to awake from the dead. Soon she was smiling, joining the play and going to school. She was strong enough to file criminal charges against her abusers and never looked back. Today she is a healthy, happy child resurrected and living again.

To be a Resurrected Person

It has all the elements of the Easter story, courage, self- sacrifice, betrayal, punishment, humiliation and a love for another for which there is no reward but only punishment. It is a story of betrayal of the most serious kind wherein parents sent their two children into harms way and traumatized them for the rest of their lives. They were delivered to captivity, torture, spiritual and emotional death. For some children, it ends in physical death, when they resist abuse they are murdered.

The story of Marcel and Angelica is about betrayal but also resistance and resurrection. Here is a story of a brave courageous 16 year old who took every risk to go against her abusive parents and endure their anger and punishment, rejection and humiliation to try to save her younger 14 year old sister Angelica from a similar fate as she herself endured sex slavery.

Marcel was sold to foreigners who are willing to pay anything to abuse children and her sister was now sold also. It was too much for Marcel, she summed up the courage and bravely sought to rescue her sister and endure all the anger and rejection heaped on her. But she succeeded and her sister was saved and brought into the protection of the children's home and the foreign pedophile sex tourist arrested. But then the judge took the side of her abusive parents and then ordered the child to be returned to the parents and the abuser. The child witness was forced to withdraw her complaint of abuse, the charges were then dismissed and the pedophile escaped. It appears that justice was denied and evil thriumphed. But it’s not over yet.

And so it appears that evil overcomes goodness. Holy week, with Black Saturday and Holy Friday are always with us.

Human rights advocates, social workers working for justice, activists protesting against mining, child abuse and corruption are beaten, betrayed, arrested and killed. In Midsalip, Mindanao, the community holding a picket line to prevent mining machinery from ravaging their lands, have been beaten, brutalized and murdered. They, like Jesus, bravely spoke out and stood against the forces of evil and showed their love of the community and died for their neighbors and to protect the environment.

I wrote recently how innocent children in Zamboanga, were taken bound, gagged and tortured to death, the youngest 12 years old. Children are made in the image of God, Jesus taught us that great truth, and the most important of all in the Kingdom of God are the children. (Matt 18; 1- 8) The abusers are best thrown in to the ocean with a stone around there neck, he said. He established the rights of the child. They were ignored for centuries and only in our generation are they officially recognized by the Convention of the Rights of the Child and have protection and help.

But they need much more as children are under assault and more are abducted and abused as ever before. Thousands are sold into labor camps, trafficked to brothels and abused by parents in their own families by the thousands.

We need every true Christian to experience a spiritual resurrection from apathy and indifference, fear and inaction. They are called from the grave to live a full life and to speak out for justice and human rights. They are filled with the power of the resurrection and enabled to challenge man-made-misery and the injustice that abuses and oppresses the poor and the children. They believe in the power of love, and they inspire more people to emerge from the grave of silence and ignorance into the light to proclaim freedom for the innocent.

They are the resurrected, they are the people emerging from the death like state caused by apathy and indifference. They roll aside the great stones that block the path to life and equality and they give voice to the truth. Can we not strive to be a person like this? No greater love can anyone have than to give his life for his friend, Jesus said. All our neighbors are friends. We can live for others and give our lives for those in greatest need. There is no better way to live a full life.