Reflection on Easter Sunday

Like the first followers of Jesus, we grow in our understanding of the Scriptures on a continual basis. Some people believe that in order for us to be forgiven of our sins, Jesus has to suffer and die such a horrendously painful death. We benefit greatly from shifting our focus from our sins to what the actual mission of Jesus was, and is ours to continue. Jesus’ mission was to build a new community on the basis of God’s loving all the people that God created. Love is what forgives us. Jesus suffered throughout His entire life as people tried to shame Him and get Him off the message of God’s love. During the time of His ministry, and during His excruciating suffering and death, He remained faithful to the mission the Father had given Him. His mission created so much resistance that the outcome was His suffering and death. To the end, in a fully nonviolent way, Jesus remained faithful to being the instrument of God’s love. We are called to continue that mission.