By Anil Netto
Easter gives us Hope, when all seems lost and in darkness and despair. When darkness descended on the land after Jesus was put to death, something miraculous happened that inspired his followers to spread the message of the Gospel far and wide.

Jesus rose to new life and the world would never be the same again. That is why when we get depressed by the impunity of those who seemingly lord it over us with their worldly powers, we need to remember the powerful words of Jesus to Pilate in John 19: 11 “You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above.”

Yes, the power that is concentrated in the hands of those who rule is fleeting and bestowed on them by God. What he has given, he can take away and no emperor, no army can stop him.

When Jesus was put to death, the Roman Empire held sway. It had the power to crucify and to release, it conquered and it plundered. Those who put Jesus to death felt that his death would put an end to Jesus’ challenge to their control of the political-economic-religious establishment. It was not a challenge by physical force but a clash of opposing value systems. They thought his death would kill the movement he started.

As the darkness enveloped the land and Jesus breathed his last, the disciples at the foot of the hill must have felt crushed. All their hopes, all their dreams appeared to have evaporated.

But Jesus’ struggle and his mission to establish the kingdom of God on earth was vindicated by his Resurrection. Even his Death on the cross could not hold back the advance of the kingdom.

Out of the darkness, God breathed his Spirit into the powerful movement that Jesus had begun — a movement that sent ripples spreading out from Palestine to the surrounding regions and across the world. Little could Jesus’ first follower have imagined then that 2,000 years in the future, many would still be calling on their master’s name. Today, Jesus’ influence is still alive while the Roman Empire is history.

Similarly, looking back over the last 75 years or so, who could have imagined the positive changes that have swept aside powerful, oppressive forces that only recently held sway: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the civil rights movement in the United States led by Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, the Second Vatican Council, the collapse of apartheid in South Africa and communism in Eastern Europe, the crumbling of of the Berlin Wall, the fall of dictators such as Marcos, Pol Pot and Suharto, the sweeping political ferment across Latin America, and now what appears to be the collapse of predatory capitalism.

All these amazing changes tell us that whatever power that has been given to earthly rulers, who then become oppressive, can never hold out against the Spirit who continues to inspire the movement for justice and peace in the world.

Within Malaysia, we have witnessed the flourishing of the human rights movement as more and more segments of society articulate their hopes for reform and change. We witnessed March 8 last year the ongoing struggle for reforms including an end to corruption and to the divisive politics of race and religion.

It is precisely when all hope seems lost, when oppressive forces hold sway that God works through his followers to provide beacons of hope and light to dispel the darkness. As more and more candles flicker brightly, the light eventually dispels the thick darkness that shrouds the land.

Of course patches of darkness still remain such as the oppressive military regime in Burma.

But where hope is alive, there is always the possibility of transformation. It is important to keep alive that hope, that longing and yearning for justice and freedom that is inspired by the divine. At Easter, we celebrate the triumph of Life and Light over Death and Oppression.

Easter is the vindication of Jesus’ mission to establish a reign of justice and peace. It is the victory of his struggle for distributive justice over the Empire’s punitive justice.

And it is the celebration of the knowledge that the forces of Death and Darkness (those who perpetrate injustice, oppression, torture and violence, greed and economic exploitation) will never prevail over the forces of Life and Light (those who struggle for justice, peace, compassion, love and a more equitable economic order).