In the history of humanity there are events that are more or less credible, depending on their degree of plausibility. From pure reason, from a strict rationality, it seems a chimera to affirm that a corpse can come back to life. In the case of Jesus of Nazareth, resurrecting means starting a second life cycle, characterized by immortality, by a life that does not end or decay. It is not about a return to life but about entering a different life, a life that is human and divine at the same time, that is not separated from this world, but, above all, belongs to the transcendent dimension. That is why the Gospel texts explain that Jesus, once resurrected, makes himself present punctually among his disciples.
Death is the big question. Dying is always an aggression against the humanity of the one who leaves. We exist to live, not to merge. While we live, we take care of ourselves, and when we don’t, it means that we have lost the will to live. La vita è bella, the title of the film rightly says, but it may not be, when illness or circumstances make it difficult or death destroys it. That is why it matters that a group of followers of a first-century Jew, born in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem, say that he has died and now lives forever. In the case of this Jew, who considers himself the Son of God, the response to evil (violence and injustice, loneliness and pain) is not death but life. Or, if you like, a death that culminates, surprisingly, with life. In Jesus, the look towards the future is tinged with light, because it is not reduced to uncertain forecasts – it is not reincarnation – but rather assumes a color full of strength: the brilliant white of a new life. Thanks to this perspective we can talk about hope, and not just expectations.
Hope is not an optimistic prognosis, dictated by a few variables, but the grounded certainty that human beings, when they die, will not dissolve into any magma or be engulfed by the inexorable corruption of their bodies. Without hope, life becomes fragile, brittle. We live, but barely. Now, without resurrection, if death has the last word, hope is limited to a simple expectation: health, success, well-being, happiness. It is not like this. The name of hope is resurrection, individual and collective.
The 21st century, which has almost reached the first quarter of its history, was presented as a century full of positive expectations when it began. However, as it has progressed, its pace has become heavier: terrorism (2001), wars (2003, 2022), economic crises (2008), pandemic (2020), climatic mutations, but also corruption, abuses, violence, civil rights injuries, refugee drama. We are witnessing a general collapse of ethical values, a withdrawal of many people into bubbles, a disenchantment with great causes. Where is the hope? Is there a resurrection? Every year liturgical wisdom proposes the Easter party, in which the image of a man who goes through suffering stands out, but who does not stay in it. He bears on his hands, on his feet and on his side the marks of an existence that has died on Golgotha, but on his face there is the serenity of hope.
It’s Easter. Time for people and peoples to rise again, for a time marked by hope to begin, by the certainty that the world must be different; he cannot go on without healing his wounds. The way must be opened for peace and dialogue, in the tormented Ukraine and throughout the world. You have to pass from death to life. It is Easter and death has been defeated.
