Easter Reflections from the Middle East
In a context of extreme violence and uncertainty, our partners in the Middle East are facing ever-increasing challenges. For many, it is their Christian faith that sustains them and gives them the strength and hope to keep serving their communities.
We asked them to tell us what the message of Easter means to them on a personal level in 2024. Their responses were powerful, hopeful and deeply thought-provoking. We encourage you to take some time to read and reflect on what they said:
We need to bear the crosses of each other
Easter time is the holiest period of the year for all Christians around the world. This year, the Easter story reminds us of the struggle the Lebanese people are facing. We see in the arduous road that Jesus took from the Mount of Olives to the Golgotha, the hard path that Lebanon is passing through today: an economic crisis, port of Beirut explosion, destruction of many villages and towns in the South and displacement of thousands of its inhabitants as a result of aggressions. Despite all the suffering that Jesus felt on his way to the cross, he knew that resurrection is the next step after all the pain. We also pray that after all what we are going through and especially in the last five years, will lead to the resurrection of our troubled part of the world.
These difficult days dictate to us the need to bear together the crosses of each other so as to show the world that in the name of Jesus Christ we can overcome hatred and achieve peace.
United with all the Churches around the world, we can join in saying that Jesus Is Risen and we are witnesses to the glory of the resurrection.
Sylvia Haddad, from Embrace partner the Joint Christian Committee (JCC) in Lebanon
God turns hard times into a bright mornings
We trust that every hard time that we face in Egypt, God will turn it into a bright morning. There have always been Good Fridays, when everybody thought that Jesus died and hope is gone, but then comes the Easter Sunday, when Jesus is risen and we were raised with Him and the cross turned from being an instrument of death to an instrument of eternal hope.
For me, Easter is not only about remembering the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but a time to evaluate my thoughts and deeds according to the truth in these two verses:
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1)
“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules” (Colossians 2:20)
I believe that God wanted for us a different life from the kind of life this world has forced us to live. Jesus died on the cross to give us the opportunity to live eternity from here as citizens of Heaven.
Bassem, from Embrace partner Think and Do in Egypt
We are not alone in the darkness - He walks with us in it
God knows it has gotten dark in Syria and Lebanon recently. And God only knows if it will still get darker, to what degree, and for how long. But one thing is sure: it will never get as dark as the day God’s only begotten Son died on the cross on our behalf. But the story, by God’s grace, didn’t end there. God was victorious over death itself, God was victorious over darkness itself, and His light has been shining in the darkness ever since.
No matter how huge the humanitarian needs have become in our region, we have witnessed numerous times God’s light shining in the life of the families we serve.
Because Jesus raised from the dead, we can live today, no matter how dark, with hope. Because Jesus raised from the dead, we can keep our eyes fixed not on the challenges of today, but on the wonderful promise of eternal life to come. Until then and because Jesus raised from the dead, we are not alone in the darkness, but He walks with us in it, very much alive. Surely, He is with us always, “to the very end of the age.”
Sophie Nasrallah, from Embrace partner MERATH in Lebanon
Easter means we must surrender our will to the Lord
Easter means that I am set free and the price for my sins was completely paid. I am not a slave anymore; I am his valued, loved, and precious daughter. I am the expensive pearl for which He sold everything. In fact, it cost Him his place in heaven to come and live among bad people. It cost Him his life, but I am amazed that he did it willingly for me.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46)
Easter means that we must surrender our will to the Lord and follow his call because there is a lot of work to be done in his Kingdom here in Egypt. Many people here need to have this gospel delivered to them, and they need the Shepherd to take care of them day by day.
Phibi, from Embrace partner Harpur Nursing School in Egypt
We are the children of the resurrection
Easter becomes a challenging celebration for all of us as Christians as we observed the world around us increasingly descending into a chaos of violence and war. We rejoice in our faith which is based on the rock of that first Easter when Jesus Christ broke the thorn of death in His glorious resurrection. We keep this joy in our heart despite the darkness that is spreading around us because that light of the first down of the first Easter is still empowering us to be ambassadors of His love and peace.
We continue, empowered by the joy and the light of Easter, our mission to spread peace wherever we are believing that the death of Christ and His resurrection will overcome the power of darkness that is destroying our world today. The pain is enormous, but our hope is also great that life is stronger that death and the culture of life will prevail because we are the children of the light, the children of resurrection.
Revd Dr Nadim Nassar from Embrace Partner, Awareness Foundation in Syria
Jesus invites us to become bearers of hope
At this most challenging time of our country’s history, when life is hard, events are unpredictable and seemingly unjust, we are tempted to ask why so much suffering. We might also feel at times discouraged or even hopeless, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, before their encounter with the Risen Lord.
But we do not exist in isolation. Jesus promised his disciples before ascending into Heaven that He will send us the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth and love. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. As children of God, co-heirs with Christ and living temples of the Holy Spirit, we are chosen, loved and precious.
Jesus invites us to experience the Resurrection, to become bearers of hope, to be lights in the world. Let us take time to ponder the Scriptures, the Word of God, alive and active, so that like the two disciples of Emmaus, after their meeting with Christ, we continue on our journey filled with the joy of the Risen Lord.
Dr Robert Caracache, from Embrace partner Beit el Nour in Lebanon
