Easter Vigil Sermon by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Evangelical Lutheran Pastor in Bethlehem

April 3—The following is an unofficial transcript of the Easter Vigil sermon by Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine, on March 30. To his left, the Easter Cross was standing in the same rubble which, 175 days earlier, at Christmas, had replaced the manger for the Infant Jesus.

Rev. Munther Isaac: Dear Friends, good evening from Bethlehem, and thank you for joining from different parts of the world. We are grateful for technology that can bring us in such a manner to different parts of the world.

Easter has come upon us in Palestine in the most difficult circumstance. It hast been 175 days since this genocide began, 175 days of bombardment, siege and starvation. I would have never thought that we would still be witnessing this by Easter. I thought, “Surely, this violence would have stopped now. I thought,”World leaders do have some conscience, at the end of the day." I was wrong, apparently.

Today, we have entered a new phase of the war of genocide, in which the people of Gaza are being killed by hunger, thirst, and disease. They are starved to death. It is a slow death. They are hanging, between Heaven and Earth, dying slowly while the world is watching. “They have no form or majesty that we should look at them, from whom men hide their faces.” (Isaiah 53:2)

It took more than five months and 32,000 people killed, including 13,000 children, for the UN Security Council to finally pass a ceasefire. But nothing has changed on the ground. Since when does Israel care about UN resolutions? Israel has never been held accountable, or even condemned by Western leaders. This remains the single biggest problem today.

Right now we are pleading for food and aid to enter. We gave up on a ceasefire: Just bring food, water, and medicine. Lord, have mercy.

Friends, a genocide has been normalized. As people of faith, if we truly claim to follow a Crucified Savior, we can never be okay with it. We should never accept the normalization of a genocide! We should never be OK with children dying of starvation, not because of drought or famine, but starvation, a man-made catastrophe because of the Empire: A genocide has been normalized, just as apartheid was normalized in Palestine, and before that, in South Africa, just as slavery and the caste system were normalized.

It has been firmly established to us that the leaders of the superpowers and those who benefit from the modern colonialism do not look at us as equals. They created the narrative to normalize genocide, they have a theology for it: A genocide has been normalized, this is racism at its worst.

And the very same political and church leaders, who lined up in October, one after the other to give the green light for this genocide, giving it the cover of “self-defense,” cannot even bring themselves to condemn the obvious war crimes being committed by Israel. They are good at raising their concern, make statements that they are “troubled by the killing” of our children. We’re sorry that the killing of our children—by your weapons—actually troubled you. They want to convince us that they actually care. So their response, they are silent during the genocide, and then show up afterwards with charity to say that they “care.” Can we really accept this?

Many countries rushed to suspend their funding of UNRWA, based on mere allegations that were not fully proven, yet did nothing with regards to the clear findings of the ICJ.

The amount of hypocrisy is incomprehensible, and the level of racism involved for such hypocrisy is appalling.

And now some politicians claim that their patience with Israel is ending, and we say, “Nothing can wash the blood from your hands.” The UN Security Council Resolution was too late: It means nothing. Some acted as if we should congratulate or thank the U.S.A. for not vetoing the resolution. I say, absolutely not! They are complicit! You cannot undo the past. In fact, the U.S. has just sent another massive missile package to arm Israel! Are they really trying to fool us, claiming that they care or concern, obviously to win back some votes.

If the flow of U.S. weapons stopped right now, within three days this would end. Instead, they sent Israel missiles to kill us, and then, sent fractions of the needed food parcels! This is beyond complicit: This is direct involvement in this genocide.

In this Easter, we turn first to the Cross: We are mourning. These are dark, dark days and in times like this, we Palestinians look at the Cross, identify with the Cross, and see Jesus identifying with us. The Cross is an important Palestinian symbol. In Easter, we relive His arrest, torture, and execution at the hands of Empire, with the complicity of a religious ideology, of course. In the Easter story, we find comfort and empowerment, in knowing that Jesus identifies with us.

We have kept this rubble in our church, since the time of Christmas, because Gaza is still under the rubble. And because our people and our children in Gaza are still being pulled from under the rubble at this very moment.

Yesterday, I watched with anguish, a cruel scene, of a child pulled from under the rubble. He miraculously survived the bombing, thank God. But while he was being pulled out, he was saying, “Where is water? I am thirsty.” This reminded me of the words of Jesus on the Cross, when He cried out, “I am thirsty!” He cried out, “I am thirsty!” in solidarity with those being massacred by famine, siege and bombardment. Jesus stands in solidarity with all the victims of wars and forced famine, caused by the unjust and tyrannical regimes in our world. It is the cry of every oppressed by the injustice of power, and humanity’s silence and inability to put an end to tyranny and injustice.

Jesus shouted, “I am thirsty!” So they gave Him vinegar to drink. They added more pain to His pain, more anguish to His anguish. And today, while Gaza screams, “I am thirsty!” they drop aid from the sky stained with the blood of innocents. Some were killed by drowning, while trying to pull the dropped aid from the sea! How cruel!

Gaza is thirsty, and they give Gaza vinegar.

We search for God in this world. We cried out to Him, and there was no answer. There was no answer, it seems, until we encounter the Son of God, hanging on the Cross, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22) Why did you let me be crucified alone?

This is the cry of feeling abandoned, and I am sure this is how the people of Gaza feel today. Abandonment from the world leaders, not only the Western, by the way, but also the Arab and Muslim leaders abandoned us. Many in the Church, also, watched from a distance, I think, like Peter in the Gospel, when he watched Jesus, when He was arrested, he stood from a distance. He wanted to be safe. He lacked the courage, similar to many church leaders today, who say one thing behind closed doors, and another in public.

Yet, it is in this cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” that we experience God, that God draws near to us. And it is in this cry that we feel His embrace and warmth. This is one of the mysteries of Easter.

In this land, even God is the victim of oppression, death, the war machine, and colonialism. He suffers with the people of this land, sharing the same fate with them. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is a cry that has resonated for years in this land. It is the cry of every oppressed person, hanging in a state of slaughter. It is a cry that Jesus shared with us in His pain, torment, and Crucifixion. Today, we place the Cross on the rubble, remembering that Jesus shared the same fate with us, as He died on the Cross, as a victim of the colonizers.

And it became dark. The Universe became dark in grief over the absence of truth. The Universe became dark, lamenting the absence of justice. The Cross is the ultimate injustice! Today, the Universe is saddened by the silence of decision-makers and their racism, and by the silence of many who did not speak a word of truth, out of fear, armed with the theology of neutrality and inaction, under the banner of peace and reconciliation. There are still those who did not openly call for a ceasefire! Can you believe this? Churches!

We received recently a letter of solidarity—I’m not kidding—from large churches in Europe that did not even call for a ceasefire. And I told them, “This is actually an absolute insult.”

Today, the Universe became dark, lamenting the apathy and numbness to suffering that exists in our world, and the racism that led to normalizing and justifying a genocide.

What many in the Church lack the most today is courage. They know the truth. But they are not speaking the truth, because they fear the consequences, they fear the backlash. Many in the Church want to avoid controversy. Can you imagine, if Jesus walked on Earth, avoiding controversy?

There are some Church leaders, who are willing to sacrifice us for comfort, the same way they offered us an atonement sacrifice for their own racism and anti-Semitism, repenting on our land over a sin they committed in their land. All of this, while claiming to follow a Crucified Savior, Who sacrificed everything, endured pain and rejection, for the sake of those He loved.

We, of course, must thank those who carried our cross with us, and there are many. We really appreciate, to name a few, the Gaza Pilgrimage, taking place all over the world. We thank those who came to Palestine to be in solidarity with us. We thank the doctors and nurses, volunteering in Rafah. We thank those lobbying to stop water sales. We thank those demonstrating in the streets: Today, there was a big demonstration in London, again. We thank those who did many sit-ins and nonviolent protests. We thank those who keep disturbing the comfort of world leaders in gatherings and press conferences and fundraisers. We hear you! This is the Church of Christ!

And we salute those who resigned from government and international bodies in protest.

They have courage and integrity. They understand that Gaza is, indeed, the moral compass of our world, today.

We thank South Africa for its action in the ICJ and Algeria for leading the efforts for a ceasefire resolution. Both South Africa and Algeria, by the way, are survivors of Western colonialism. It’s there, where the moral credibility lies.

We are carrying a heavy cross, and we thank those, who help us carry it. Our Friday has lasted way too long. But we know from the experience of Jesus, that this suffering is not for the glorification of suffering. We know that suffering is always a path to glory and life. It is a stop on the road to resurrection. We walk with Jesus on the road of Golgotha: We are empowered by His solidarity with us, but we look for Sunday.

And so, on Easter, we don’t only look to the Cross, but we turn to the empty tomb.

When I think of what gave Jesus the strength, this resilience and power, to the extent that He forgave His oppressors, to the extent that he said, “Your will be done,” and went voluntarily to the Cross. I believe His resolve and determination, His resilience, His Somoud, came from trusting His Father’s will, and from knowing that His Father is able to raise Him from the dead, and that He will ultimately do that: Raise Him from the dead.

Jesus’s faith sustained and empowered Him. He was defiant in the face of Empire. He faced the Cross and even death, with confidence and steadfastness. And I must admit, it is so difficult today to hold to our faith. It is so difficult to hold to hope. We cannot see Sunday—it seems an impossibility. We are swallowed by the darkness of the tomb. Our strength has failed. We are weary.

It is so hard to speak of the Resurrection now. We are mourning. Our siblings in Gaza are literally dying from starvation—but we cannot lose our faith in God! This is our last resort. And as such, we have to fight to keep this faith. We cannot lose our faith! We have to look to the empty tomb. We must remember the empty tomb!

And so, today, I preach to myself, first, with the Psalm (42): “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

“Hope in God, for I shall again Praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?”

The Resurrection gives us hope. Christianity is a faith that hopes. And hope is not to deny the reality. We are not blind to our reality, and we as Palestinians, realize the corruption and evil of the world, probably more than anybody else.

But, we must refuse to let this be the last word!

Christ is Risen! This is the final word! Christ is Risen, and this changes everything! The empty tomb is our hope.

And behind the ugly apartheid wall in Bethlehem, separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and specifically, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, there is an empty tomb, that reminds us that the last word is not that of death, but of life. Not that of darkness, but of light. Not that of genocide and starvation, but of dignity and pride.

The empty tomb reminds us that evil, injustice, tyranny cannot have the last word!

See, if Christ had remained in His grave, Caesar and Pilate would have triumphed. Rome would have won, and the Pharisees. The oppressors would have been victorious.

But Christ is Risen! The Empire is defeated! And even better, death is defeated!

And so, because we have faith, we do not live in despair. Faith is the only thing they cannot take away from us.

And so, when we declare on Easter Sunday, al Masih qam, “Christ is Risen,” we declare that the final word belongs to God. We declare that justice is served, truth is vindicated, the Empire and its allies lost! And today, after 2,000 years, by continuing to carry the Cross, we defeat and even mock the Empire and its theology.

We took the symbol of Rome’s power, and the means of its humiliation of others, and made it the symbol of our strength, victory, and steadfastness, in the face of death. And this is because “al Masih qam, Christ is Risen.”

And the Resurrection urges to rise and act. Because we know that the final word belongs to God, we rise and act. We build. We preach love, because we know love wins. We preach peace, because we know peace wins. We preach life, because death is defeated. Jesus starred death in the face, and defeated it: And therefore, we rise and act.

So, in conclusion,

Friends, I am confident that we, the Palestinians, will rise. Never in my life have I been prouder and more honored to be a Palestinian, more than in the last 175 days: Proud of our resilience, of our Somoud. Proud of our solidarity with one another, our unity. And when I say that we will be OK and that we will recover, I say it, because I know my people, I know who we are. Palestine is our homeland. We are deeply rooted here. And even for those Palestinians exiled around the world, Palestine lives in them. Palestine, today, is in every corner of this Earth.

So, we will never relinquish our God-given rights of living in dignity and justice. Yet, I also say, we will recover, because I believe in a good and a just God, Who rules the world with justice.

Probably our biggest asset is the justice of our cause. This is our biggest asset as Palestinians. Our Somoud, our steadfastness, is anchored in our just cause and in our historical rootedness in this land. But it’s also anchored in the just nature of God.

And so, because Jesus lives, we can face all things, stare the Empire in the face, and defeat it.

So, today, let the way of the Cross be our way. Let the way of the sacrificial love be our way. The Crucified Christ, Who sacrificed His love, for the sake of those he loved, calls us for costly solidarity, the costly solidarity of love. This is a call to action: For the Church to the Church, to be Jesus’s Church, to follow in the footsteps of a Crucified Savior. The Cross is God’s solidarity with humanity, in its pain and suffering. And God’s solidarity must become our solidarity. The followers of Jesus risk all to speak truth.

This is not about making statements. Jesus did not say, “I was hungry and you prayed for me and made a statement.” No. Jesus said, “I was a prisoner, and you came to me.” This is about action. We must find ways to make a difference. We must act, mobilize, pressure, lobby, hold powers and leaders accountable.

And as people of the Resurrection, we must unsettle the Empire.

Today, the land of the Resurrection calls you to act, in hope and love. Today, the land of the Resurrection calls you to unsettle the Empire. Together, we are committed to end this genocide. Together we are committed to work for truth and justice.

We know we will prevail, because “al Masih qam, Christ is Risen.” Amen.