It’s Easter again, you really can’t miss it as the popular slogan of  “He is Risen!”, it’s plastered on all social media websites by over enthusiastic Christians. There is clearly an important question that needs to be asked about this slogan. George Orwell’s, 1984 gives us a good lesson about simple and meaningless slogans, “war is peace”, “freedom is slavery”, “ignorance is strength”. Simple to shout, easy to believe in and catchy – but a little thought exposes the factitious nature of these mind numbing slogans, their only purpose meant to placate the uninitiated.

A good place to start with understanding “He is Risen!”, is to ask, is this really a surprise or a victory? If we assume that Jesus is God, and someone told us that God died, would we really be surprised that an all powerful deity did in fact, not die? Forgive me if I am oblivious to some super secret that Christians uphold, but what would be so surprising that the all powerful deity didn’t die? It would be a miracle to hear, “He is Not Risen!”, as that would be the last thing anyone would expect from an all powerful deity, the deity in question, not being powerful at all.

So, one has to ask, what’s the big deal about God not dying? Why the enthusiasm, tears and amazement, about a non-miracle? Yes, I get it, through his resurrection you have someone else pay for your sins, but that also shouldn’t be a surprise given that an all powerful deity is all merciful and all forgiving – he could already forgive your sins, with or without killing himself. It must honestly be confusing for lay-Christians to see everyone celebrating a non-miracle at Easter time and wondering what the fuss is about. I suppose tomorrow we should celebrate other attributes of God’s sovereignty while feigning amazement? Or should we simply leave the Christian faith to do that for us?

and God knows best!