Easter Sunrise Service (1)
It’s the season of Lent, a time when believers prepare themselves for the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ culminating on Good Friday and Easter. This year the forty-day period before Easter proves to be an enthralling time for the Christians in Malaysia. The Alkitab (Bible in Malay) issue has triggered a storm all over the country, and it seems not only the Christians are concerned. Suddenly everyone is concerned about the issue that the Christians in the country are concerned about, whether he stands with the Christians or not. The Sarawak state elections have only added fuel to the fire. There is a lot of ranting out there in the cyberspace and conventional media, some justifiably so but some opportunistic in nature, I think.
Believers are never free from persecution because the Kingdom they carry is not of this world. Every day they face resistance in living out their faith, certainly it’s not just this Alkitab issue. However, God’s Kingdom is ever invading the system of this world, so you can expect a fight-back somehow. This is not to say that believers should just swallow everything thrown at them, instead they should be proactive in advancing the gospel of His Kingdom, no matter how adverse the circumstances are. So the posture the Christians take is vital in this occasion, as in all occasions when they are under persecution. If internally they think it’s a time for progress not retreat they have won half the battle.
Look at what we have now after all the fiasco surrounding the Malay Bible. Not that the case is closed, but even now we can draw one or two positive points.
Firstly, whatever forces out there trying to stop people from knowing and reading the Bible have in fact made the same people more aware of it. They might be thinking what’s so controversial about this book that it can be “a threat to national security” and what is so damaging about reading it? Before you know it, without prompt from any Christian, the same people could be reading the Alkitab on the net. It’s free you know?
As believers approach Good Friday and Easter, they are reminded of the role that persecution played in bringing Jesus to the cross. Incidentally, it was persecution from people who thought that He was “a threat to national security”. We are now more or less put in the same fix concerning the Alkitab, are we not? Is this what Paul said about the “fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil 3:10)? At least partly, I think. Not that we should invite persecution, but to take the positive, we are in a better position to understand Jesus’ suffering - and to draw closer to Him. This helps us to know Him better, doesn’t it?
Words such as “desecrated” and “defaced” are used to describe how the 35,100 copies of the Alkitab were tempered with. It is not exaggerating to say that Jesus’ body was “desecrated” and “defaced” after being scourged and nailed to the cross. His enemies thought they had done away with Him, they couldn’t be more wrong. Jesus, through His death and resurrection, wrought eternal salvation for many and His followers forever transform the face of the earth. They still do.
Seeing these, it’s hard to feel down. Here’s a word of encouragement from Paul for us:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28, NKJV)
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