There is no downplaying the uncertainties and anxieties around us today. What will happen tomorrow? When will the coronavirus plague go away? Will mankind survive? How many shall die? Do I have what it takes to go through another week or month of uncertainty? What happens to my job? Will I be able to find a means of livelihood after the lockdown? I am indebted the bank, will I still be able to pay? Am I going to lose my collateral? My rent is due in a few weeks time and my landlord may not be open to entertaining excuses; how will I be able to pay especially now I don’t know when my business will be open again or if my debtors will pay up?
Billions of people across the world are passing through an extraordinary kind of pain, unrivalled in living memory. No one saw it coming, many actually imagined that 2020 would be their year of manifestation, the year their dreams would be fulfilled and losses of the previous years recovered.
Now see what is happening. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and several other global establishments are predicting double-digit contractions in the global economy for 2020. IMF has also warned that it would take a couple of years before the world can return to its pre-February 2020 levels. Already France, according to recent figures has seen a 6% fall in its GDP in the first quarter of 2020. Germany is predicting a 10% decline in its economic fortunes by the second quarter of this year.
The economic setback that will hit the world in the months and years ahead cannot be fully estimated at the moment considering the fear by informed analysts that at the moment, no one can say what will happen next even if the threat from this novel COVID-19 is contained. Scientists are afraid that the virus could be mutating and mode of infection remains uncertain. There are speculations that it could be airborne.
While it is true that Africa appears to be the least troubled region at the moment, experts are still concerned that the fragile health system in the continent presents a global threat and should the virus hit the region with the same ferocity as Europe and America, morbidity figures could be in hundreds of thousands and as some have estimated, millions.
How many would react to the uncertainties and tensions that would follow remain very much unclear. Already in Germany, a senior government official reportedly committed suicide last week. Will many take their own lives? Perhaps. Will crime rates increase? Not unlikely. Will desperation become dominant? You can bet on that. How about reduction in wages, layoffs and criminal disregard for international labour laws? Those ones, you can be sure will become commonplaces.
Many have already depleted their savings in the last few weeks of lockdown across the world; the banks may not be very open to extending credit facilities beyond a certain limit to those with uncertain job history, there will be fewer and fewer options available and many would find life in all its ramifications meaningless.
They will turn to drugs, alcohol, gambling and other forms of deadly addiction. Family lives could be in peril and friendships will lose its meaning. One can also add that many would be forced to flee their homelands to escape crushing poverty and uncertainties. Sadly, the developed countries, also struggling to find their feet again will have their doors shut against poor immigrants. For many therefore, the journey could either end at the middle of an ocean or in the desert.
One can go on and on. There are endless scenarios anybody can create including the possibility that money may even lose its value and new global currencies emerge. One thing is clear though: things will never remain the same; at least not into the foreseeable future.
The message of Easter
This is why this year’s Easter celebration could not have come at a more auspicious time. Easter, a Christian celebration set aside to commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ the Redeemer is the most significant event in Christendom and reminds us of the triumph of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ over persecution, physical and emotional agonies and most significantly, death and the grave. The Christian faith rests on the understanding that through Christ’s death on the Cross at Calvary, God reconciled mankind to Himself, wiping off our sins and offering us the pathway to become heirs to His Kingdom.
The Cross traditionally connotes shame and this is made all the more clearer by the events at Christ’s crucifixion. Two criminals, condemned to death were hanging by either sides of the Saviour. Theirs was an acceptable death, necessitated by their misdeeds and the prevailing customs which decreed death for any found to have been involved in serious misdemeanours such as murder, stealing, rioting, arson and banditry. There were other forms of shameful deaths which also served as severe punishments for those who engage in criminal conducts. Stoning to death for example is a very painful and cruel way of putting someone to death and this accrues to crimes such as adultery and theft. However, hanging on the cross stands out for its sheer spectacle and the message of reproach it conveys.
There is an age-old argument amongst theologians as to why Christ had to die on the Cross in the company of known criminals. While we shall not get into any of these, it is worth stating that God is the master designer and has a way of turning what was programmed to bring shame into an enduring emblem of glory. Those who condemned Christ to death on the Cross had imagined that they were putting an end to his “rabble rousing.” In their opinion, they must have felt certain that they had extracted their pound of flesh after series of series of doctrinal disputes with the “carpenter.” But look at what happened three days later and the fact we continue to remember all of those today.
There are plenty of messages one can draw from Christ’s travails which started soon after He finished His last supper with the 12 disciples. Think about His betrayal by one of those who wined and dined with him hours earlier- his treasury secretary, Judas Iscariot. How about his abandonment by the disciples? Were they overtaken by fear? Or were they keeping true to their human nature? Let us not say much about their refusal to join Him in prayer as He prepared for His encounter with Pontus Pilate, Herod, the elders and the teachers. That shall be dissected by the theologians in due course. Then consider also that Peter who He had earlier appointed the head of His Church and anointed him leader of the apostles wasted no time in denying Him at the earliest sign of trouble. How about the irony that the same set of people who proclaimed Him king as He entered Jerusalem a few days earlier turned around to demand the release of Barabbas the notorious criminal and the crucifixion of the Messiah?
For me the central lesson in Christ’s travail is the unchanging nature of humans from time immemorial. Jealousy, envy and greed remain critical human vices as they were two thousand years ago when the Redeemer faced His accusers. You can also draw plenty lessons in relation to the use of state power, not as a channel for the dispensation of justice but as a platform to settle personal scores. One can also make a case here against the “voice of the majority.” The masses can be wrong and we saw that with the persecution of Christ.
Those who shouted crucify him had no reason for that. They were merely driven by hysteria and herd mentality. In this situation, truth and logic have no meaning. You can also look at the fact that sometimes, the leader may be goaded by the masses into taking the wrong decision. Think about Pontus Pilate who announced clearly that he found no basis for the allegation against the Saviour and elected to free Him immediately, perhaps with a mild rebuke for being a “violent agitator.” But the masses would have none of that. “Crucify him,” they insisted. Even Herod, a long term enemy of Christ found no ground for sentencing the Redeemer to death but his supposed kinsmen were adamant that a man found not guilty by the Romans must be put to death. Think about the truth of a man’s enemies being members of his own household.
We can go on and on and I encourage you to read the Bible account of the Passion of Christ as presented in the gospel of Luke chapters 22 and 23. Christ’s Passion teaches us endless lessons about endurance, hope, standing adversity, committing ourselves to God’s will and looking beyond the present pains to behold the ultimate glory. If there is a central takeaway we must pick out from the message of this season, it is the fact that often times, we cannot avoid unpleasant circumstances; we will be lied against and people who do not have the facts would stand as witnesses against us. In all of it we must remain resolute, certain that trials precede glory.
To the present crisis
The coronavirus pandemic has become the plague of our world today forcing us into unusual pains and difficulties. We have had to make unprepared adjustments to our way of life, shut our doors against our neighbours and relatives. We have seen people dying in agonies, cut off from friends and families and abandoned to depart without the comforting presence of loved ones.
These are difficult times and it is beyond the economy. It is psychological, it is emotional and even more critically, the pains are social. Observers are estimating that there would be an explosion in mental health crises as many battle the agonies of loneliness, frustration and the emotional trauma of being cut off their regular routines.
This is where the message of Easter becomes most valid. The key insight is: do not give up; do not despair. The night would pass and a new dawn shall be upon us. The old shall depart and we shall embrace a better world where we shall live with the conscious understanding that the worst is now behind us. As we shall be told by senior Christian leaders today, the pains of Good Friday shall be wiped away by the glory of the Resurrection morning.
We shall smile again.
Happy Easter to you all.
