.... The peace Jesus gives to us at Easter is not the peace that follows the strategies of the world, which believes it can obtain it through force, by conquest and with various forms of imposition. This peace is only an interval between wars: we are well aware of this. The peace of the Lord follows the way of meekness and mildness: it is taking responsibility for others. Indeed, Christ took on himself our evil, sin and our death. He took all of this upon himself. In this way he freed us. He paid for us. His peace is not the fruit of some compromise, but rather is born of self-giving. This meek and courageous peace, though, is difficult to accept. In fact, the crowd who exalted Jesus is the same that a few days later would shout, “Crucify him!” and, fearful and disappointed, would not lift a finger for him.
In
this regard, a great story by Dostoevsky, the so-called Legend of The Grand Inquisitor,
is always relevant. It tells of Jesus who, after several centuries, returns to
Earth. He is immediately welcomed by the rejoicing crowd, who recognizes and
acclaims him. “Ah, you have returned! Come, come with us!”. But then he is
arrested by the Inquisitor, who represents worldly logic. The latter
interrogates him and criticizes him fiercely. The final reason for the rebuke
is that Christ, although he could, never wanted to become Caesar, the greatest
king of this world, preferring to leave mankind free rather than subjugate it
and solve its problems by force. He could have established peace in the world,
bending the free but precarious heart of man by force of a higher power, but he
chose not to: he respected our freedom. “Hadst Thou taken the world and
Caesar’s purple, Thou wouldst have founded the universal state and given
universal peace” (The Brothers Karamazov , Milan 2012); and with a lashing
sentence he concludes, “For if anyone has ever deserved our fires, it is Thou”.
Here is the deception that is repeated throughout history, the temptation of a
false peace, based on power, which then leads to hatred and the betrayal of
God, and much bitterness in the soul.
Before
his final Passover, Jesus says to his disciples: “Let not your hearts be
troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). Yes, because while worldly
power leaves only destruction and death in its wake — we have seen this in
recent days — his peace builds up history, starting from the heart of every
person who welcomes it. Easter is therefore the true feast of God and humanity,
because the peace that Christ gained on the cross in giving himself is
distributed to us. Therefore, the Risen Christ, on Easter Day, appears to the
disciples, and how does he greet them? “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19-21). This
is the greeting of Christ victorious, the Risen Christ.
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