A few days back I was talking to some of my students when the horrendous abuse, rape, and murder of Asifa Bano came up. One of my students said that it annoyed her when people raised the cry of ‘justice for Asifa’ because there could be no justice for Asifa now that she was dead. My student’s point was that dead people cannot be given justice because they are, well, dead.

Since these students were then preparing for an important presentation, I did not think it was the right time to engage them in a discussion of justice or other matters. But as the conversation went on between the students, the wheels of my mind were turning rapidly.

We Christians often do not understand what the resurrection is supposed to be. Jesus was raised from the dead on the first Easter and we often think this was simply a display of God’s power. It is certainly a display of God’s power. But it cannot be only that! Jesus had been abused and murdered by the Romans at the instigation of the Jewish leaders. It was an injustice. And Jesus’ resurrection was God’s reply to that injustice. Through Jesus’ resurrection God announces his defeat of the powers that meted out abuse and death to Jesus. Through Jesus’ resurrection God announces his justice of condemning the powers that were party to the injustice shown to Jesus.

If you were to ask me how exactly resurrection implements God’s justice, I would not be able to answer. But when we cry for justice, it is always because we recognize that an injustice has been done. Cries of justice always arise in the wake of grave injustice. But, as my student observed, there can be no justice for someone who is dead. Apprehending, charging, prosecuting, and punishing the perpetrators of the abuse, rape, and murder of Asifa cannot fix anything for Asifa herself. It may prevent some such cases in the future. But nothing that we can do can truly be called ‘justice for Asifa.’ for she is now dead and we do not have the ability to even look through that veil let alone freely pass to and fro through it.

In other words, the cries of ‘justice for Asifa’ are simply an outcry against the injustice she faced. These cries are powerless to effect what they claim. They cannot ever give Asifa the justice she deserves and needs. More to the point, the cry of ‘justice for Asifa’ is actually a cry of impotence in the face of a power and an enemy none of us has mastered – death.

Asifa was neither the first, nor, unfortunately, will she be the last innocent victim in this world. Indeed, human history is filled with countless innocent victims sacrificed at the altars of a variety of ideologies. And the question arises, “Where is the justice for all of these who have grievously been wronged?”

If resurrection is not about justice, but only about giving us a new life, then it is insufficient. Just giving someone a new life – even if it is an eternal incorruptible life – does not mean that the injustices of the past have been dealt with. And then we will simply have an eternity of unhealed, unaddressed injustices. That cannot be a glorious future to look forward to!

But resurrection is about justice. Somehow, through resurrection God will heal us. He will address the injustices we have faced. And the injustices we have participated in. And somehow in his presence he will set things right. I do not know how. But somehow he will. That I trust him to do because he is a righteous judge. And so he cannot condone injustice. The resurrection is, therefore, not just a demonstration of his power over death, but also the event through which he will right all wrongs. And this is why the resurrection is absolutely necessary.