Pesah

The Jewish Pesah festival celebrates the Exodus from Egypt. Later, the feast mutated into Easter. Pesah marks the end of slavery for the Jewish people. Liberation and excerpt are the keywords. A people on the way through the desert, on the way to the encounter with the living God. The goal: a country of their own.

The fulfillment of the promises to Abraham was finally realized. Here, then, we are talking about a God who works in history. A God who does not forget. Centuries had passed since Abraham left for Egypt because of a famine, and so the fulfillment of the original promise did not take place. Hundreds of years in which God was “silent” – until Moses was called. Moses, who was to lead the people out of Egypt and towards the Promised Land.

Easter

The Pesah festival was adopted as “Easter” in Christian traditions. Easter has a meaning not for a single people, but for the world, for people. Easter affects us all. Like Pesah, Easter is the story of a liberation, but now a liberation from death and its consequences. Here something powerful happens, death is overcome and a promise of life becomes tangible. In the Eastern Church, Easter is the most important feast in the ecclesiastical year, much more important than Christmas.

Holy Saturday

Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday: Holy Saturday. A day like any other? There are atheists who celebrate this day because – as a result of the doctrine of the Trinity – this is the only day when God is “dead,” so to speak. This is another example of what strange blossoms the doctrine of a Trinity produces.

Jesus was killed with the intention of taking him out of the way. God, however, has provided otherwise. It was all according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-5) and yet some things were apparently unknown to the disciples and the rest of the world. God’s wisdom showed itself here, but “none of the princes of this age (eon) recognized it-for if they had recognized it, they would probably not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8 Rev. Elbf.).

Witnesses of the resurrection

Easter was not the end. It was a new beginning. It was outrageous. The apostles became “witnesses of his resurrection” (Acts 1:22) rather than witnesses of Jesus’ birth (Christmas). Easter ekes out a shadowy existence in the Western church. Christmas became the most important feast. Is this testimony to a misguided focus? If we, like the apostles, could grasp the meaning of the resurrection, what would happen?

In several places the 12 apostles repeat the statement that they are “witnesses of his resurrection” (see Acts 4:2 Acts 4:33). Later, this is also the message Paul uses to describe his good news – his gospel (Acts 17:18, see also: Acts 23:6-8, Acts 24:21).

With the resurrection, it became clear that Jesus’ words were not empty promises. The kingdom was near – still. The 12 apostles and the church in Jerusalem were expecting this kingdom and asked Jesus the question about it when he was resurrected (Acts 1:6). If the king lives, the kingdom also still has a chance, so to speak. The fulfillment of the promises to Israel (Rom 15:8) were still relevant.

In the course of Acts, however, this hope was not fulfilled (cf. Acts 1:6-7), but Paul, as the 13th apostle, reached a new target group: the nations. With him, it is no longer a matter of fulfilling the promises made to Israel, but something new comes into being. The apostle describes it as the unveiling of mysteries (Eph. 3:1-13). Paul was an apostle to the nations (Rom 11:13). With him, the resurrection of Christ becomes the hope for all the descendants of Adam (1 Cor. 15:22).

Witnessing the resurrection is the central theme among the apostles. Is it still today? And do we see the differences between the preaching of the 12 apostles and the foresight that Paul has? Where do we belong? What is the basis for our life and faith? What message should and may fertilize our lives?

No more partial solutions

These questions cannot be answered by saying that “more or less everything says the same thing.” Here we need differentiation, so that we – reading along with the story in the New Testament – discover how also here a development takes place. The focus starts with Israel, but expands to the whole world. There is a glad tidings that does not get stuck with partial solutions. Christ is risen – as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. It starts with Him. Just as through Adam death came through to all men (without exception), so likewise all men are made alive in Christ. This is what Paul says in 1Cor 15:20-22.

God does not have partial solutions in mind. He has a real redemption in mind. A redemption of the whole world. The goal is for God to be all in all one day (1 Cor. 15:20-28). This is the scope of Jesus’ resurrection for all who can accept it with thanksgiving today.