Embracing Resurrected Power
Good Friday is the time when Christians celebrate the way Jesus chose to suffer and die on the cross to save us from our sins. He chose this selfless act. He chose to "give his life as a ransom for many". The All-Powerful God made choices of immense sacrifice for you and me. He chose to take on human form. He chose the path of weakness. He chose death. He chose to be separated from his Father - so He could rise again, so we can be personally saved, so we can receive the free gift of eternal life.
Over the years, this is the story I've heard every Easter. I believe it and marvel at God's grace and mercy for me. He chose to suffer for me, to die for me, to forgive me, to make me new! It's very personal.
But there's far more to Easter than just my personal redemption. When we singularly focus on His selfless choices, our individual sins, and our personal salvation, we end up ignoring the overall awesome resurrection power of the Kingdom of God and the Gospel.
I want to highlight how His death and resurrection was not only an active choice made by our loving God, but there were also active choices made by corrupt and wicked people, locked in corrupt and wicked systems, exposing a corrupt and wicked criminal justice system. These choices were made due to an unrelenting lust for power, prestige, and money.
I also want to highlight how His death and resurrection not only personally saved me, but it conquered and overcame the very principalities and powers that led to His horrific and unjust execution - He rendered them powerless. Through choosing humility and weakness, Jesus embraced the ultimate of human suffering to empower those suffering, in poverty, and imprisoned today.
Finally, I want to highlight how His death and resurrection is not just a past event to marvel at and be thankful for, but something we need to courageously embrace today! Even though we may be weak and in chains, Good Friday gives us the authority to walk in His truth and power - for He has conquered the world!
The biblical account shows how religious thugs, political gangsters, and wealthy stakeholders personally devised plans to make Jesus suffer and be a victim of their criminal justice system. They tried to wipe him and his movement out of existence because they saw him as a threat. His Kingdom challenged and exposed their evil empires. In his life, Jesus elevated the poor, foreigners, women, the sick, the outcasts, the isolated, and even the criminal who was dying on the cross next to him. By becoming Someone who didn't bow to their ways and by becoming marginalized himself, the "powers-that-be" chose to make him a criminal where they legally executed him on a tree for all to see. They chose to lust after power, prestige, and money instead of doing what was right.
Not much has changed. The same motives are used in imprisonments, enslavements, and in executions to this very day. Think about how eerily similar the way Christ was crucified to how black men, women, and children were lynched in this country by white supremacists. Religious and political thugs wanted to continue their dominance, so they executed people without a proper trial. It was done in front of chanting, cheering, and jeering mobs. They feared they'd lose their supremacy, so they legalized terror which kept order and subdued the masses. The story has remained the same - whether it's someone hanging on a tree, mass incarceration, or the brutality of crucifixion. The corruption Jesus faced is dominating our world today, it's just cloaked in different uniforms, with the same horrifying result.
Jesus took all the power-playing, religious trickery, political deception, bribery, excessive use of weaponry and law enforcement that led to his unfair and unjust execution onto that cross. He could have chosen a different path, he could have chosen to execute vengeance and brutality on his oppressors, but instead, he chose the way of love, peace, and non-violence. The blood of Jesus reveals the truth of God, the exact opposite of his executors. The All-powerful God became weak and a victim of oppression and prejudice - so he could ultimately expose and defeat the principalities and powers that led to his humiliating death. This is the power of love!
Over the years, this is the story I've heard every Easter. I believe it and marvel at God's grace and mercy for me. He chose to suffer for me, to die for me, to forgive me, to make me new! It's very personal.
But there's far more to Easter than just my personal redemption. When we singularly focus on His selfless choices, our individual sins, and our personal salvation, we end up ignoring the overall awesome resurrection power of the Kingdom of God and the Gospel.
I want to highlight how His death and resurrection was not only an active choice made by our loving God, but there were also active choices made by corrupt and wicked people, locked in corrupt and wicked systems, exposing a corrupt and wicked criminal justice system. These choices were made due to an unrelenting lust for power, prestige, and money.
I also want to highlight how His death and resurrection not only personally saved me, but it conquered and overcame the very principalities and powers that led to His horrific and unjust execution - He rendered them powerless. Through choosing humility and weakness, Jesus embraced the ultimate of human suffering to empower those suffering, in poverty, and imprisoned today.
Finally, I want to highlight how His death and resurrection is not just a past event to marvel at and be thankful for, but something we need to courageously embrace today! Even though we may be weak and in chains, Good Friday gives us the authority to walk in His truth and power - for He has conquered the world!
The biblical account shows how religious thugs, political gangsters, and wealthy stakeholders personally devised plans to make Jesus suffer and be a victim of their criminal justice system. They tried to wipe him and his movement out of existence because they saw him as a threat. His Kingdom challenged and exposed their evil empires. In his life, Jesus elevated the poor, foreigners, women, the sick, the outcasts, the isolated, and even the criminal who was dying on the cross next to him. By becoming Someone who didn't bow to their ways and by becoming marginalized himself, the "powers-that-be" chose to make him a criminal where they legally executed him on a tree for all to see. They chose to lust after power, prestige, and money instead of doing what was right.
Not much has changed. The same motives are used in imprisonments, enslavements, and in executions to this very day. Think about how eerily similar the way Christ was crucified to how black men, women, and children were lynched in this country by white supremacists. Religious and political thugs wanted to continue their dominance, so they executed people without a proper trial. It was done in front of chanting, cheering, and jeering mobs. They feared they'd lose their supremacy, so they legalized terror which kept order and subdued the masses. The story has remained the same - whether it's someone hanging on a tree, mass incarceration, or the brutality of crucifixion. The corruption Jesus faced is dominating our world today, it's just cloaked in different uniforms, with the same horrifying result.
Jesus took all the power-playing, religious trickery, political deception, bribery, excessive use of weaponry and law enforcement that led to his unfair and unjust execution onto that cross. He could have chosen a different path, he could have chosen to execute vengeance and brutality on his oppressors, but instead, he chose the way of love, peace, and non-violence. The blood of Jesus reveals the truth of God, the exact opposite of his executors. The All-powerful God became weak and a victim of oppression and prejudice - so he could ultimately expose and defeat the principalities and powers that led to his humiliating death. This is the power of love!
Hope lies in this painful, yet liberating, truth. It’s painful, because of how enormous and real evil and oppression is, and it just won’t leave - it traveled with Jesus and nailed him onto that cross, it travels with oppressed people today and uses its power to keep them down. It’s liberating because Jesus didn’t stay in the grave - he rose again and defeated sin and death, giving His Kingdom power over all oppressive kingdoms - rendering them worthless and powerless. His revolutionary movement was birthed in humiliation, non-power, and love - the resurrection power of the Gospel gives us freedom against and over the ever-present and seductive principalities and powers of this world.
The empty tomb is not just a hope for the future when God will destroy all this evil forever, the imagery of all these "principalities and powers" being cast into the Lake of Fire. The hope of living in resurrected glory is real, but the empty tomb also gives us hope for today. Despite the chains, despite the homelessness, despite the racism, despite the prejudice, despite mass incarceration, despite white supremacy, despite the oligarchal rule, despite all the forms of subjugation that enslave us, the empty tomb empowers us to walk in freedom. Jesus didn't wilt under the oppressive rule that was trying to silence him, instead, he confidently proclaimed and lived out these words of hope and promise...
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The reality and horizon are dark and depressing for those who are imprisoned by the destructive tools that capture us. The Crucified Lord calls us to mourn and fight against these beasts, but the Resurrected Lord also empowers us to live in hope and freedom - for just as they couldn’t keep Jesus down, they can’t hold us down.
I have the honor of working with those experiencing homelessness and go into Cook County Jail regularly. It is in these places, where the oppression is the greatest, I see the power of the Crucified and Resurrected Lord empowering people every single day.
I have the honor of working with those experiencing homelessness and go into Cook County Jail regularly. It is in these places, where the oppression is the greatest, I see the power of the Crucified and Resurrected Lord empowering people every single day.
- I see His resurrection power shining in those activists who are fighting and advocating for those in need - they exit the comfort of their living rooms to put their lives and reputations on the line for others. I saw it especially in Uptown Tent City, where people went to jail and were constantly harassed because they fought to help those living in tents from police harassment, discrimination, and to fight for housing.
- I see His resurrection power shining in those working tirelessly in helping and assisting those in need - every day they go out, persevere, and help others navigate this complicated world. I see it in Cornerstone, where people's purpose is to help direct, protect, and assist those in need. This isn't easy, it takes compassion and a lot of patience, but as a result, those who are homeless often find direction, protection, and someone who cares for them.
- I see His resurrection power shining in those experiencing homelessness, those incarcerated, and those who are marginalized. They are not defeated. With all odds stacked against them, they maintain hope and keep pushing forward. The power of the empty tomb doesn't let them wallow in despair, but in realizing there is a God who loves them, and despite their circumstances, they keep finding and living in freedom, hope, and joy - that is the resurrection power of Jesus.
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