April 2nd, 2026
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s video and happy Easter.
Walter Wink wrote several books reflecting on Paul’s description of the struggles of the Christian life. In Ephesian 6: 12, he says, “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. Its not that people are evil (although some act in evil ways). Human behaviour is to some extent governed by ways of thinking that develop a life of their own. Individuals are sinful, and if you put a whole lot of sinful individuals together and watch them interact with each other, they can sometimes become much worse than the sum of their parts. In his book, The Powers that Be, he described one such power, or ideas system that dominates thinking in western thought. He describes it as the myth of redemptive violence. Its not just our culture of course, it is prevalent in most. In a nutshell it promotes the idea that things can be put right if you have a bigger gun. Every James Bond film or superhero movie is full of it. Sadly, it is clearly the myth that is driving many current wars. The problem is that short of wiping out the opposition altogether even a victory – whatever that might look like in current conflicts – leaves a remnant full of resentment, plotting later revenge. Violence usually just hardens hearts; it doesn’t persuade anyone to change their behaviour. The use of power against the will of those in receipt of it may gain grudging compliance for a while but little more.
This is our background as we travel the events of Holy Week. We see Jesus living out a way that is completely counter-intuitive to those steeped in the redemptive violence myth. If you want to change the world, don’t let yourself be killed. In the story of the trial and crucifixion it looks like all the power is in the hands of others. Jesus willingly submits to all of it. This is not the love of power, but the power of love. And yet, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5: 19, “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” Cut off from God, the only rational way to get your own way is to do it yourself. Exercise your own power to get what you want. It’s a principle that works it self out in ordinary human relationships and with guns and tanks between States. Such sin needs to be forgiven if we are to have any chance of living differently at a fundamental level. This is what the cross does. Christ’s death makes it possible for us to be forgiven and for our broken relationship with God to be restored. It is only when that forgiveness has been received as a gift as we submit to the Lordship of Jesus that the real power, God’s power, demonstrated in the resurrection, can be released into human hearts. This is what is in offer in the gospel. When the church has offered it through models of sacrificial love, its amazing how quickly it will take. When the Church has been tied to the worldly structures of power and tried to enforce compliance it has catastrophically failed, even misrepresenting the gospel entirely. Establishment and Christendom have had many advantages, but their great danger is enshrining privilege and entitlement undermining a simple trust and dependence on the grace of God.
This Easter, surrounded as we are by so many global conflicts that threaten to suck the world into chaos, its good to be reminded that Christ’s way is very different. Jesus Christ invites: he doesn’t compel. He offers us forgiveness, new life in relationship with God and through the power the resurrection releases into our hearts a genuine freedom to live in a trusting rather than coercive way ourselves. Dropping large quantities of ordinance by the most powerful armies in the world on Iran and Ukraine doesn’t seem to be a very effective power at all. The cross and resurrection has the greatest power imaginable to do the most difficult thing imaginable – to change a human heart. How we all need it.
A very happy Easter to everyone.
+Richard