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One of the blessings I count in my life, is that I have been pastor of Incarnate Word Parish now for five years. It’s longest I’ve been assigned anywhere and it has been wonderful to have the time to get to know you, accompany you in your faith journey, and be a part of your lives and families. One of the drawbacks of being somewhere for more than a couple years is that, after a while, people have heard all your jokes. As I was preparing my Easter homily, I was looking over my favorite jokes and stories and realized, you’ve heard them all! So I had to dig deep and find something new for you to consider.
A priest and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them. ‘Come with me,’ St. Peter said to the taxi driver. The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St Peter to a mansion. It had everything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool. ‘Oh my word, thank you,’ said the taxi driver. Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rough old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set. ‘Wait, I think you are a little mixed up,’ said the priest. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all, I was a priest, went to church every day, and preached God’s word.’ ‘Yes, that’s true.’ St Peter replied, ‘But during your Easter sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.’
It is a wonderful thing to have laughter at Easter Mass! Not simply at a funny story or clever joke but more importantly, because of the fact that the worst things to befall the human race, namely sin and death, have been defeated by our Risen Savior. That is something that should never fail to put a smile on our face and hope in our hearts. But we would do a terrible disservice to these saving mysteries if we kept our reflection on a superficial level, only hoping to walk out of church today smiling and laughing. Easter Sunday only happened after a cosmic struggle for our souls between good and evil, an epic battle between God and Satan, with innocent Jesus standing in our place. To skip past all of this and remain on the surface would dishonor what God has done for us. It would also keep us from enjoying the full significance of what we have received from the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. With that in mind, I want to offer you a different take on Easter, another point of view. To do so, we must go back to last week, Palm Sunday, the day Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
On Palm Sunday, two processions entered Jerusalem for Passover. Protests against the Roman occupiers were strongest on holy days and for this reason, during this most holy feast, the Roman Governor Pilate rode up to Jerusalem. He would bring extra troops in case of trouble, to reinforce the local riot squad and remind people who was in charge. Picture it: Pilate’s procession arrived from the west bringing threats and fear. Jesus entered the city from the east, humbly, preaching forgiveness, mercy, and repentance.
Pilate rode into the city on a warhorse, Jesus on a donkey. He was fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah who foretold, “The King of Peace on a donkey will banish the warhorse and battle from the land.” Do we get a picture of what is going on here? The gauntlet has been thrown down and the contrast is clear. Jesus versus Pilate, the non-violence of the Kingdom of God versus the violence of the Roman Empire.
That was the contrast, two arrivals, two entrances, two processions, two ways of life, and two choices. On Friday, Jesus stands before Pilate, innocent; but gruesomely and wrongly executed. But three days later, the day known as Easter Sunday, everything changed forever. Jesus is raised from the dead by divine power and here we are at the heart of the matter. What does this raising of Jesus by God mean? It means that God said a resounding “yes” to Jesus and all He stood for and a firm “no” to the powers that killed Him.
Easter means that God is on a collision course with injustice, with violence, with exploitation. God is against the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter and the complicity and corruption of power in Pilate and Herod. He is against Jesus being beaten in jail. He is against the politically correct judgment of Pilate who judged Jesus innocent of a capital offense but had him killed to keep the mob happy.
Things have not changed today. Our God is still against betrayal, backstabbing, and cowardice. He is still against violence in a family and on the streets of our city. He is still against corruption in government and on Wall Street. God is against the unholy ways many are treated online and in the media. He is against the moral and physical abuse of spouses, children, the poor, the unborn and the misuse of social, political, and financial power.
The Easter story reminds us in no uncertain terms of where God stands. He raises up Jesus who told us to turn the other cheek. To go the extra mile, to bless those who curse us and pray for our enemies. He told us to go first and be reconciled with our brother or sister before we come and offer our gifts at the altar. He told us never to return evil for evil but cry out with Him on the cross. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He said to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and always remember it profits us nothing to gain the whole world but lose our soul. Jesus’ way of life and way of love, the Father raises up.
In other words, Easter is not simply a tremendous mystery; is also a statement. A divine statement of divine values. It is about life and death, right and wrong.
Last but not least, Easter asks a questions of each and every one of us: which side are we on? Which entrance do we take into the Holy City? The day Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east on a donkey and Pilate from the west on a warhorse, was the day you and I were confronted with the choice. Which entrance shall we take? Which procession shall we follow?
Easter is the day God announced His choice. By raising His Son from the dead and all He stood for, God made it clear that life and happiness will never come from brute force, violence, anger, worldly power, arrogance, envy, or betrayal. Easter is the day God announced His choice, what is left for you and me is to make ours.
