Articles
The Significance of Christ’s Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection
Opinion | Articles | Isaac Harold Gomes | 30-Mar-2026
The Risen Lord
Easter is the most important religious festival of 2.6 billion Christians all over the world. On this day they commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day of His being put to death on the cross. Christ’s Resurrection forms the crux of the Christian faith in victory of life over death, victory of good over evil, human salvation and hope in eternal life. Without Resurrection, Christianity would be futile (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). The impact of Christ’s Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection was so powerful that not only the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked and the rocks were split, it brought down the entire Roman Empire. There is every likelihood of this telling impact being repeated for nations which show scant respect for human lives, a country’s sovereignty, and ironically quote Psalm 144 during press briefing to justify war and mass annihilation.
Gospel Account of the Resurrection:
The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ Resurrection give us differing details about who and where they saw Him first after He rose from the dead. According to Matthew (28:1-10), an angel showed the empty tomb to Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” and instructed them to tell the disciples, who were totally panic-stricken after Christ’s crucifixion, to go to Galilee. While still in Jerusalem, the two Marys saw Jesus, who told them the same thing. He appeared once more, to the disciples in Galilee.
According to Luke (24:1-49), however, while the disciples remained in Jerusalem, the women (Mary Magdalene; Joanna; Mary, the mother of James; and “the other women”) found the empty tomb. “Two men in dazzling clothes” told them that Jesus had risen. Later, Jesus appeared to two followers on the road to Emmaus (near Jerusalem), then to Peter, and later to the disciples.
The True Meaning of Easter: Resurrection, Hope, and Christian Belief.
Easter is a joyful affirmation of our belief that through Christ’s conquest of death, the whole humanity (irrespective of their religious affiliations) will share in His salvific mission, which is victory over sin, death, and the Devil.
Jesus rose from the dead so that everyone can have a meaningful relationship with God the Father – the Creator of the Universe. Because of His victory over death, we too can experience a new life right here on earth and in Heaven with God. This is the reason we call ourselves “Pilgrims of Hope.” Through His Resurrection, Christ offers everyone hope, joy and promise of peace amid our daily struggles, fear, uncertainty, unemployment, heartbreaks, despondency and all crises in our lives.
In this context, we must remember that contrary to popular notion, Jesus did not preach Christianity and as a corollary, the rituals of the hierarchical Church. We must also note, the early Christians did not have any hierarchy which has entrenched itself in today’s Church. Jesus only preached the Good News of salvation to the poor, and the religion of love and service to the needy through Servant-leadership.
Jesus was a non-conformist. He challenged several Jewish traditions/interpretations of Mosaic Law, observance of the Sabbath and purity rituals. He healed on the Sabbath multiple times - including a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12) and a blind man (John 9). He was a firm believer in "Laws are for men, men are not for laws" and asserted that the Sabbath was made to serve human needs, not to entrap people in rules.
Jesus and Socrates, the great Greek philosopher (born 470 BCE, died 399 BCE) shared common attributes. Both questioned the system. Therefore, both were perceived as affront to authority. Even, 84-year-old human rights activist Fr Stan Swamy was such and incarcerated under UAPA! The same perception is being perpetrated today by the USA ostensibly for regime change.
Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection in today’s context.
We experience all these phenomena in our life-situation trials and tribulations. Examples are:
- When someone is repeatedly heckled, his/her basic human rights to shelter, drinking water, food and personal dignity are stripped off, that is reenactment of crucifixion; extrapolate this on a larger scale in Gaza, Africa, Iran and Lebanon, it’s crucifixion.
- The growing practice of keeping contractual employees, and their exploitation in Church-run institutions, under threat of termination without gratuity and retirement benefits, are clear instances of daily crucifixion; taking away tribal land and uprooting them without commensurate compensation to suit mining/business barons, are clear cases of crucifixion.
- Prolongation of the above situations over a protracted period, including long incarceration in jail without trial, will lead to certain death of the victimised.
- We also come across situations of spiritual death (Genesis 2:17 and 3:8), death of conscience of today’s superpowers/politicians, bureaucrats and hardened criminals; the death of a person’s/community’s cherished dreams by systematic subjugation.
- On Sunday 08 March, 08.09 lakh candidates appeared for Group-D state-level selection test in Kolkata to vie for 5,444 Peon’s posts in secondary and higher secondary schools! It will be Resurrection for those candidates who get these government jobs.
- On 8th March, more than fifty women, cutting across religious and social barriers, broke bread together at Deeniyat Muallima College, Santragachi, at an inter-faith Iftar. This is Resurrection from today’s increasing sectarian polarisation/conflict and social divisions.
- The Telegraph Calcutta 10.03.2026 mentioned America as the largest exporter of arms (42% of global exports). The world be a much safer place if this self-defeating practice in the name of boosting its economy, is done away with. This will certainly be equivalent to Resurrection from the ashes of superpower-engineered destruction.
- On 9th March St Xavier’s College Raghabpur Campus launched Project Udaan to enable rural women to rise above financial death and suppression through skill-based training and livelihood opportunities. This project is a clear example of Christ’s resurrection in today’s situation – the rise of rural women from societal suppression and financial death.
In all Christian churches, the tradition commonly followed is to pray for peace when communities and societies are in conflict and when nations are at war with one another. The Christian communities across the world did exactly that when the US-Israel Vs Iran war began. This Holy Week, this prayer will intensify in a special way, beseeching the Lord to inspire concerned leaders to see reason and end the catastrophic human tragedy.
(The contributor is a member of the Indian Catholic Press Association, a social activist, and a freelance journalist. He writes for different publications on various issues. He can be reached @ isaac25gomes@gmail.com)
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