Easter - suffering and hope

Following Tim's very moving piece, I want to add my own Easter reflection. Today we celebrate Christ's resurrection. On Friday, we remembered his death - the world's ultimate unjust trial, the most brutal flogging, history's most infamous miscarriage of justice, the greatest execution of an innocent, indeed perfect, man.

Whatever you believe about Easter, Good Friday, God, Jesus Christ and Christianity, there is a message about today, and about Good Friday, which is deeply profound and deeply relevant to the world we are in. If you believe, as I do, in the message of the Gospels, the divinity, the death, and the resurrection, of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, then this weekend takes on a personal importance. It is, along with Christmas, the most important celebration in the Christian calendar. But even if you do not believe in the actual story of Jesus Christ, the symbolism of the message is still of profound importance.

For right now, in our world today, millions of people are undergoing their own Gethsamanes, Golgothas and Calvarys. Let us think of the people of Burma, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Tibet; let us remember Christians facing persecution in over 60 countries around the world, in places like Pakistan or Eritrea; the Dalits of India; Buddhist monks in Burma and Tibet; Muslims in Burma, Darfur; people of all faiths and none, people who struggle for a simple desire to be who they were created to be, to express an opinion, to write a poem, to choose their government, to choose their religion, to worship freely... let us remember those in prison, facing torture, as prisoners of conscience... child soldiers, raped women, refugees, displaced people, orphans and widows. All these people are going through their Good Fridays: suffering floggings, brutal torture, carrying their cross, and even in some cases death.

The message of today is three-fold: firstly, it is that God suffers alongside them. In their suffering He is there. He has gone through it himself. Secondly, He cares. Speaking out against injustice is absolutely central and of paramount importance to God, to Christ, to our faith. And thirdly, Easter is coming. On Friday we remembered Christ's crucifixion. And we continue to remember the suffering of our world. But today, we celebrate His resurrection. And in doing so, we continue our struggles on behalf of the persecuted and the oppressed in the knowledge that they too will have their resurrection. Burma and its people will have a new life of freedom, democracy and peace. North Korea and Zimbabwe will be liberated. Sudan will be free. We do not know when, but we know it will come, as it came for Christ, and so we hold on to the Easter story as a story of hope. But we also know from the Easter story that freedom, and victory over evil and tyranny - the tyranny of the oppressors, the tyranny of Pontius Pilate, the tyranny of sin - comes with a price. A high price. And as we remember the supreme price, the ultimate sacrifice, which Christ paid for us, we remember too that many, many brave people are paying the same price for the cause of freedom, justice, peace around the world today. And we stand with them, in the knowledge that Christ stands with them, and that the Cross is a symbol both of suffering and of hope. On Friday we grieved, we wept, over His death and the suffering of the world. And we'll continue to grieve. But today we sing: He is risen, and we will one day sing that song over Burma, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan and beyond. May our tradition in this country of celebrating Easter - whether we believe the story personally, or simply mark its symbolism - never, ever be lost.