As we approach Eastertide, I offer a brief reflection on this holiday amid turbulent times in our world.
On Easter morning, Christians proclaim something extraordinary: that death has been defeated, that Christ is risen, and that a new kingdom has begun. But what kind of kingdom? That question becomes far more uncomfortable when we hold it up against the world we actually live in. And what do we do with our enemies?
Easter, Enemies, And The Kingdom That Turned Everything Upside Down
I was struck by a recent comment from the U.S. Defense Secretary, who reportedly prayed for “overwhelming violence” against enemies in Iran.
I understand the instinct.
There are real threats in the world and regimes that oppress, destabilize, and kill (sometimes we need to look in the mirror ourselves). Governments have a duty to protect their people. Scripture itself is not silent on this tension. The Psalms of King David include what are known as imprecatory prayers, cries for God to bring judgment upon enemies:
“Break the teeth in their mouths, O God…”
Those words are in the Bible. They reflect something deeply human: the desire for justice and for evil to be stopped decisively…and even the desire for revenge.
And yet, Easter changes everything.
A Different Kind Of Victory
Christ did not conquer His enemies through overwhelming violence and retribution.
Instead, He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross.
He absorbed violence rather than unleashing it. He did not call down legions of angels. He did not crush Rome. He did not silence His accusers.
Instead, He said:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
As I wrote last year, that is not how kingdoms normally work.
But that is precisely the point. The resurrection is not just proof of life after death but the unveiling of a kingdom that operates on entirely different terms.
Love Your Enemies…But How?
Jesus did not leave this as an abstract idea. He made it painfully concrete:
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
It is one of the most radical commands in all of Scripture.
And if we are honest, one of the most difficult.
It is easy to love people who are kind to us or pray for those we agree with or extend grace when it costs us nothing. It is much harder to love people who threaten us, oppose us, or even hate us.
That does not mean pretending evil does not exist. Nor does it mean abandoning justice or refusing to confront wrongdoing. But it does mean refusing to let hatred be the final word.
The Tension We Live In
There is a role for governments to restrain evil. Scripture also acknowledges there is a place for force in a fallen world. But for the Christian, there is also a higher calling that cannot be ignored or explained away.
We are called to see even our enemies as people made in the image of God.
We are called to pray not only for their defeat, but for their repentance.
We are called to resist the instinct to dehumanize, even when it feels justified.
That is not weakness or naïveté, but allegiance to a kingdom that does not operate by the same rules as every other kingdom in history. That is what separates Christianity from every other faith!
And this admonition is not just for Christians, but for the human race, of which every member is an image bearer of God.
CONCLUSION
Easter is the ultimate declaration that violence and death do not have the final say. The cross looked like defeat. The resurrection revealed it as victory. And that victory reshapes how we are called to live: faithfully.
It means that even in a world filled with real enemies who threaten us, Christians are called to something higher. We are called to love when it is hard. To pray when it feels undeserved. And to trust that the kingdom Christ inaugurated is not built on overwhelming violence, but on a love that refuses to be overcome by it.
image: “The Mocking of Christ” by Carl Bloch (1880)
Happy Catholic and Protestant Easter!
Thank you, Matthew. Each of us drove the nails that hung Jesus to the cross. Good Friday is so solemn because we are shown the incredible price the innocent Son of God willingly undertook to take the punishment we deserve. Tomorrow we celebrate the victory over sin, death and the devil.
I would note one other critical difference between Christianity and other religions, the question of how are we saved. We are not saved by what we do – it is not about us fallen humans trying to climb a ladder to heaven: it is all undeserved grace, that God gave his only Son to be the perfect sacrifice in our place. Were we to be judged by our deeds, our own merit, woe to us.
Thank you for your reflections, and of course your wonderful observations on your travels (on planes and on greater things), which helps us plan our own travels.
I agree 100%.
While it is true of the doctrine that we are saved not by our deeds, if we ignore our deeds on the basis that accepting Jesus is sufficient, then we are not really accepting Jesus. In order to accept Jesus, we must do our utmost to maximize good deeds.
A different thing, but I also agree with this…the books of James is quite clear on this point, as were Jesus’ own words in the Gospel according to Matthew. As I say, good works are a necessary outflow of saving faith.
Right; works prove faith. We don’t do good deeds to be saved, we do good deeds because we have been saved. Good works come from having accepted Jesus as Savior and letting God work in us.
Since we are made of God when we are saved, we now do the things of God, or strive to do them.
Standing with my Amish neighbors this week was true blessing. For those that rarely take a political stance, in this their most holy time of year was uplifting. I pray daily for forgiveness asking Jesus to lift my dark soul
Thank you Matthew for this post.
Easter means that we keep our eye much more focused on the Kingdom to come than on what happens here on earth. Our first allegiance is not to governments but to our King who will reign forever and ever with righteousness and justice that the world has never known.
But we never can be too heavily minded to be of no earthly good. There are enormous needs on this earth and we are the hands and feet of Christ in a fallen and broken world.
Richest Easter blessings to you, Matthew, and to those that seek and build Christ’s Eternal Kingdom.
“But we never can be too heavily minded to be of no earthly good. There are enormous needs on this earth and we are the hands and feet of Christ in a fallen and broken world”
Spoken like a true solider of Christian Nationalism. Exactly the same spoken by Islamist extremists. You both deserve each other and I’m so sad that you took a beautiful post by Matthew and turned it into justification for what is happening in the world today. How dare you.
nowhere in keeping our eyes focused on the Kingdom to come is there justification for what is happening in the world today or not making a difference here and now.
I’m sorry you don’t understand the concept.
Really.
Alleluia! Easter blessings to you and your family, Matthew, and thanks for these reflections.
Thanks for the article Matt so true
Thank you, Matthew. Even if you do not practice any religion, your message here still has value for humanity. Wishing you and yours a good holiday.
This is basically what Bad Bunny said at the Grammys, and I often remind myself that I need to fight with love, not hate.
Alleluia and Easter blessings to you and your family, what a beautiful reflection!
I’m a week late, but Happy Easter to all! If you don’t mind sharing my testimony, this was a special Easter to me.
This was the first Easter where I could truly call myself a Christian. Up until this point, I’ve realized that I was only a Christian in name. This change happened not because of me, but because of God. A few months ago, in late November or so, I was in a bad spot. I’d failed subjects for the first time (and I’d failed 3 of them), due to having had a really weak work (or rather, study) ethic, and because of that life was pretty hopeless. One night, I prayed something like “God, I give my life to You”, and everything changed. He blessed me immensely.
Around that same time, I was on Instagram and I hit “interested” on a video about a news headline saying that the number of Christians was growing. When you do that, videos of that same style pop up in your feed, but the Lord showed that nothing is below Him by changing my feed to videos from Christian accounts of people talking about God, how He works, and how to live for Him, ie, videos of a different style. Over the past few months, they’ve been helping me open the door that God has always been knocking at. Thanks to that, I now read the Bible with far more understanding and interest, and I don’t zone out at Mass like I used to do (it’s a lot harder for me to do).
The most important thing I learned is that we are saved not by our works, but by our faith in His grace, which He gives to all who believe in His sacrifice. From there, everything will flow. I have to admit that, up until now, I thought that you had to work your way up to God, and because of that there were things about the faith that seemed incoherent to me. Whenever I would read the Bible, I’d write down reflections on what I had to do and how I had to live (treat others as you’d like to be treated, etc), but I treated it as a checklist that I had to follow in order to get God’s approval. And because I was more concerned with the things of this world, I often struggled to follow those “checklist items”.
Well, learning that God saves us and we can’t do anything ourselves for our salvation did a lot for me. Jesus lived the life that no one could live and took the punishment that we all should have taken so that we may have eternal life with Him, meaning that we are saved by accepting His free gift of grace that He gives to all. He brings us to Himself, not the other way around. By accepting God’s grace, you give your life to God and He makes you His. That means you now are made uncomfortable in sin (of course, I’ve felt immensely tempted all throghout this time, but God over time has shown me how many sinful habits I have and has given me discernment) and you strive to do God’s will.
What follows? Well, conviction and understanding. You now see how many things you do are sinful, and, because you realize that jesus is our Savior and we can’t save ourselves, now everything related to Christianity makes more sense. I’ve found it far easier to read the Bible, pay attention in Mass, and know what I’m doing wrong. As I’ve heard said, when you give your life to Christ, it becomes a lot more simple. Not easier (due to temptation), but simpler, because you give your life to Him who is Lord above all. He created everything, so let Him handle everything!
Also, I wanted to say that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is truly the pinnacle of Christianity. All of God’s teachings can be shown through that sacrifice on the cross for all of us. It shows just how coherent God is. For example, Jesus says that “He who humbles himself shall be exalted”. Well, guess what Jesus, who “sits above the circle of the Earth”, is almighty, has no equal, and compared to whom everything is worthless (all from Isaiah 40), did? He took the worst punishment possible, which is bearing the full anger and wrath of God for all sins ever committed, and died like the people with the lowest place in society: like a criminal (from what I know, the most hated people in society at that moment), on a cross. I also recently learned that He was sold for the price of a slave. The highest of the high made Himself the lowest of the low. And guess what? “To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever. Amen” (from Jude). He humbled Himself below all and is exalted above all.
This comment is getting long, but I’ve also been reminded that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross shows how God’s wisdom is superior to ours. The Jews were expecting someone who would free them from Rome with might. They thought that that was best. Well, Jesus, with humility and mercy, saves us from something that is far more important and worrying: our sins and the eternal condemnation they carry. Additionally, the Jews thought you had to follow all these rituals to be saved. But all we have to do is trust in Jesus to be saved. And all else will then follow, not to be saved but because we have been saved.
Thank You Lord Jesus for Your sacrifice, and I ask you to work in all people on earth as You have worked in me. Amen.
Amen.
Who are you listening to online? Ever listen to Robert Barron?
No, I never have, but I have heard about him.
If it helps, on Instagram and/or YouTube, I follow Dr Taylor Marshall, Father Casey Cole (@Breaking In the Habit), Cliffe & Stuart Knechtle, Therismos Foundation (@thegospeloflove), Sean Sarantos, Gabe Poirot, Ruvim Borishkevich (@pdxruvim), Caleb Hammett (@dripking), Colin Elliott (@r3alism_offcl), Kero Awad (@kerojitsu), Jamey Carrington, Jordan Shiluli, @just.myles, Dennis Gorcea, Dylan Mandell, Patrística Nectar Publications, and @GospelSimplicity, among others. I didn’t know any of these content creators/foundations until they started appearing in my feed.