The Resurrection is no hoax

Easter Sunday 2022

One of the terms that has come back into vogue and has made its way into political vocabulary of late, is “gaslighting.” Gaslighting involves the perpetrator trying to convince the target (the one being gaslighted) that what he perceives is not actual reality. By convincing the target to doubt himself / herself, the gaslighter gains power through distortion, lies, and misinformation. Soon the target may come to depend on the gaslighter for “truth”, since the target no longer trusts his own senses, perceptions, or even basic reasoning ability. That’s basically the premise of the 40s movie “Gaslight” which gave rise to this term.

It may be argued by many, especially critics of Christianity, that the Church has been gaslighting her members and the world, with the story of the resurrection and the explanation behind the empty tomb. Since the empty tomb raises more questions than it can provide answers, these critics argue that the Church has jumped on this opportunity to manipulate the truth about Jesus Christ, in order to exert mind-control over her members and perpetuate the biggest gaslighting lie for centuries.

Yes, there was gaslighting involved surrounding the events that took place at Easter, but not in the way that the critics of Christianity would imagine. First, the enemies of Jesus who wanted to suppress the movement He had built during His lifetime, had decided to spread rumours and even concoct fake news that the body of Jesus had been stolen by His own disciples, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Second, Mary Magdalene sought to gaslight, albeit unintentionally, the rest of the disciples by declaring: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb … and we don’t know where they have put him.” Thirdly, the followers of our Lord, including the women, had gaslit themselves into believing that our Lord was truly dead. Despite what He had told them, to prepare them for this moment, and despite them seeing the empty tomb and the burial clothes left behind (now why would the body snatchers take the body but leave behind the embalming clothes), their minds were firmly locked in this conclusion that the Lord had truly died and that His cause had come to a definite end.

And yet, the empty tomb and the discarded burial clothes stand as bulwarks against this myriad display of gaslighting, thus refusing to allow the truth of the resurrection to be buried. They demand an explanation. They cast doubts on the various theories and rumours surrounding this event. They cast doubts on the doubts of all, who were trying to grapple with the mystery of the empty tomb. What could have happened? What does this mean?

Though there was no breakthrough for Mary Magdala and Peter, at this stage at least, a chink can be seen in the doubting shield of the beloved disciple. He alone “saw and he believed.” What was the nature and level of this belief? We are not told. But perhaps we can speculate that he has begun to doubt his own doubts and preconceived notions. He alone began to see something within the darkness of the empty tomb. For others, the empty tomb was just a mystery to be solved or a cul de sac with no way through.

But in truth, the empty tomb had its own reality to reveal. For some, the empty tomb was a source of disappointment. But for us believing Christians, the empty tomb is the sign par excellence of our hope and the path to life. The empty tomb is the irrefutable proof of God’s victory over death and sin. Here is the irony: when He was present and alive, His own disciples did not grasp His true identity. But now, after His death and in His physical absence in the empty tomb, they finally begin to make sense of all His words and deeds.

So, when the Risen Lord finally appeared to them, it changed everything. That is: His rising blew it all up. The gaslighting was finally exposed for what it is - a lie. The Light got in and everything was exposed. There was no going back. There is no longer any need to keep speculating and asking, “What happened?” We only need to ask, “What now?” Everything they had experienced, seen, and learned in the years, months, weeks, days, and hours leading up to our Lord’s arrest, torture, trial, and crucifixion was thrown into stark relief once He appeared to them post-death, very much Alive. And this transformed them, utterly. Borrowing another expression from pop-culture, they were finally “red-pilled.”

The objections to the Resurrection are not based on the evidence, and in this sense, they are the real attempts at gaslighting. Remember that famous aphorism: “the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence”? Not being able to produce archaeological evidence of the corpse or remains of Christ is no proof that He did not exist, nor can it disprove that He rose from the dead. In fact, the absence of the corpse, may be one of the biggest proofs that our Lord did rise from the dead. To believe in the resurrected Christ is a very reasonable faith. To deny the Resurrection, one must either stick his head in the sand or take a blind leap into the dark. It’s like standing before a mob-wrecked burning building and exclaim: “mostly peaceful.”

In the days and weeks and years and centuries that followed, most of the Twelve apostles and thousands of Christians were martyred when the gaslighting by the State wasn’t enough to suppress this truth. They became victims of the same cowardly State that killed God, and they went to their deaths fearlessly preaching the Resurrection. Propagating this new faith, even in the most inoffensive and peaceful manner, garnered contempt, opposition and cruel deaths. Yet, this faith they zealously did propagate, and all these miseries they endured undismayed, nay rejoicing. As one after another was put to a miserable death, the survivors only continued their work with increased vigour and resolution proclaiming their Easter faith: Christ has Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

So we must remember: our Lord’s Resurrection isn’t just an invitation to celebrate by throwing Easter parties for kids with Easter eggs. It is an invitation to uphold the dangerous and subversive truth of our faith against a legion of forces that wish to suppress that truth by gaslighting and by any other means. From the time of the Resurrection and even until now, the world is full of stories that cast doubts upon the power of God’s love. In a world that is sealed in tombs by false stories about Jesus and His love for us, we are sent to speak the truth that will set those around us free, so that they too can “follow the path to life” and rejoice in the fullness of joy, in the presence of Risen Love.

Our faith in the Resurrection may sometimes feel daunting and our testimony at times even be weak and terrifying. But it is, nevertheless, an electrifying call to rally against the powers of death which cannot beat God but will not ever stop trying. No matter what the world throws at us, no matter how much the world seeks to bury the truth and attempt to gaslight us and convince us that we are deluded, we will stand confidently and courageously with the Lord as we proclaim with Christians of past centuries: Christ has Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!