Jesus is risen, but I keep thinking about the “harrowing of hell”—that moment between his crucifixion and resurrection in which Jesus descends to the underworld and stages a jailbreak. As printmaker Ben Wildflower explains, icons of this moment typically show Jesus as liberator, trampling the powers of evil and death underfoot. “This is a God who knows, in his body, what it is to suffer under the hellish forces of the nations that gloat as they massacre the innocent,” writes Wildflower, “and this God is going to burn it all down.” Speaking of hellish forces: This week, President Trump—whose New Year’s resolution was to the be “the peace president”—threatened to annihilate “an entire civilization.” The same people who crafted Project 2025 now have a new, equally scary plan (Elena Trueba read it so you don’t have to). And LGBTQ+ survivors of Christian “conversion” therapy are disheartened by a new ruling from the Supreme Court. Amid such groaning, the good news of Easter is not only that God is present with those who are oppressed, writes Wildflower. “The good news is that God is on our side and will destroy what is oppressing us.” |
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