At roughly 6:30pm in the city of Lahore in Pakistan, a suicide bomb devastated a weekend Easter gathering of Christians. From the outside, it would appear that a Taliban splinter sect successfully carried out a terrorist attack against fellow Christians. Yet, without minimizing the heinousness of these terrorist actions or the definite fact that Christ himself will hold them accountable, the Taliban has unknowingly drawn international attention to the very hope they wished to destroy. There is an irony about these attacks. The point of terrorism is to threaten people with the prospect of death and destruction. However, a people who follow Jesus Christ, the resurrected Savior who is actively working to undo every aspect of death and destruction, will not be deterred by threat of death from obeying and celebrating Christ. For, their Hope was born in a context of terrorism (Matthew 2:16-23). Furthermore, not only did Christ himself assure them that the world would hate them (John 15:18-27), he also commanded them to “Take heart” because He had “overcome the world.”
It is during times exactly like this that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a mighty fortress for the Christian. The author of Hebrews tells us, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of the death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15). The threatening power of death has been broken by the triumph of Christ over death and the devil. No clearer example of this can be imagined than a group of Pakistani Christians publicly meeting to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ in knowingly hostile territory. They did not deny Jesus before the terrorist, and neither will Jesus deny them before their Father who is in Heaven. (Matthew 10:33). Yes, the Taliban has killed their bodies, but God’s truth regarding their coming resurrection and vindication abideth still. His kingdom will not be stopped by Easter evening attacks. For, His Kingdom, which these meek and righteous Pakistani Christians will inherit, is forever!
CBH
