UCO Beirut Newsletter

Al-Massi7 Qam

Christ is risen!

-Elias Baz

All our churches celebrated Easter this month (April 2022) after a period of fasting (what we call “the Great Lent”). It is a season of joy in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We celebrate His victory over sin and death.

But there is a danger here to miss a very crucial truth about how the victory over sin and death was accomplished. The intuitive and logical answer is that Jesus conquered death when He rose from the dead. I still recall that many years ago, at the beginning of my life with the Lord, I used to believe so - influenced by Hollywood movies where the hero usually destroys the “bad guys” by his own strength and emerges as an unbeatable hero!! However, the Christian truth about the resurrection is far from this Hollywood paradigm!!!

As I grew in my relationship with the Lord and got to know the teachings of the church I belong to, I learned that Jesus conquered death by death not by resurrection!! He conquered death by accepting to die by surrendering His whole being to the Father. He conquered death by obedience to the will of the Father.

In Gethsemane, He simply said to His Father: let Your will be done. He Himself had the power to destroy those who came to capture Him on that night, but He did not. He gave Himself, surrendered Himself to His cruel enemies. By doing so, He manifested His complete and perfect faith in His Father.

Moreover, on the cross, He committed His soul into the hands of His Father (Luke 23:46) who did not put Jesus’ faith to shame, but acted according to His infinite faithfulness and power. God raised Him from the dead (Acts 3:15) by the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:11). Although Jesus as Son of God who has life in Himself (John 5:26) and who is the author of life (Acts 3:15) had all the authority and power to lay down his life and to take it up again (John 10:18), he committed His soul to the Father depending on Him to raise Him from the dead. This perfect obedience to the point of death – even death on a cross – (Philip 2:8) is the mystery behind His full victory over sin and death. The apostle Paul explains this mystery in Romans chapter 5 and summarizes it with this beautiful verse (Rom 5:19): For as by one man’s (Adam) disobedience, many were made sinners, so by one man’s (Jesus- the second Adam) obedience many will be made righteous.

If we want to celebrate Easter the way it was meant to be, let us give our lives completely to our Father. As good disciples to Jesus, let us commit our souls every day into the hands of our Father living a life of obedience and embracing our cross without fear. Let us ask the Lord to teach us how to live in harmony with His Holy Spirit who dwells in us, who breathes life into our souls and who will raise us from the dead as He raised our Lord and savior Jesus Christ (Rom 8:11).

Rhea Fahd / Editor-in-Chief

Rackel Dahdouh / Resident Writer

Alexandre Abdelnour / Graphic Designer