EASTER IN GAZA: A terrible beauty is born
UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, reported on 31 March 2025 that the breakdown of the ceasefire and resumption of intense bombardments and ground operations in the Gaza Strip has left at least 322 children dead and 609 injured – constituting a daily average of around 100 children killed or maimed over the past 10 days. Most of these children were displaced, sheltering in makeshift tents or damaged homes. These figures include children who were reportedly killed or injured when the surgical department of Al Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, was struck in an attack on 23 March.[1]
The resurgence of relentless and indiscriminate bombardments, combined with the complete block on supplies entering the Gaza Strip for more than three weeks, has put the humanitarian response under severe strain and Gaza’s civilians – especially its one million children – at grave risk.
The total deaths after 560 days of relentless, brutal and indiscriminate bombings has now resulted in[2]:
- 61,709 people killed
- 17,492 children killed
- 111,588 people injured
- more than 14,222 missing and presumed dead
Beyond the mass destruction and pain of so many lives lost, UNICEF estimates that between 3,000 and 4,000 children in Gaza have had one or more limbs amputated, often without any anaesthesia or painkillers. That small tract of earth is now home to more child amputees per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world.[3]
In the light of all these devastating numbers, one Christian pastor from Gaza proclaimed the following: “This is a very special Easter, we are now closer than ever to the crucified Saviour”
How does this connect to a Western Christianity that seems fixated solely on the triumph of resurrection? We pause to grieve the cross for just one Friday each year, while we spend the remaining 364 days rejoicing in revival, only to repeat the cycle again the next Easter. This rhythm reveals a faith shaped by imperial ideals, where suffering is relegated to the misfortunate and the cross is reduced to a mere stepping stone toward victory.
EASTER, WHERE A TERRIBLE BEAUTY IS BORN
The Easter Rising of 1916 against British rule in Ireland provides a glimpse into the current events in Gaza. It stands as a pivotal event in European history, paving the way for Ireland’s liberation just six years later. W.B. Yeats immortalized this rebellion in his poem Easter 1916, offering a literary lens through which the movement transcends its political and geographical context.
In the poem, Yeats repeatedly reflects on the phrase “a terrible beauty is born,” capturing the duality of the rebels’ sacrifices—their profound love for their country and the heavy price they paid. Over a century later, echoes of this complexity resonate in Gaza, where acts of brutality by power structures, like Israel and its Western allies, contrast sharply with the extraordinary courage and resilience shown by the Palestinian people—a testament to the enduring interplay of tragedy and beauty in the pursuit of justice.
‘A TERRIBLE BEAUTY IS BORN’ IN GAZA AND WEST BANK
Easter 2025 will mark 560 days of relentless suffering for the Palestinian people, as the Israeli government and its Western allies have inflicted devastating losses, claiming the lives of tens of thousands of children, men, and women. Homes have been demolished, schools and universities destroyed, hospitals reduced to rubble, and the very doctors, journalists, teachers, and aid workers who sought to help have been targeted and killed. These atrocities were committed with the intent to crush the Palestinian spirit of seeking self-determination. Yet, the resilience and determination of the Palestinian people have proven unyielding, standing as a testament to their strength in the face of oppression. A terrible beauty is displayed by the Palestinian people, with most global observers completely oblivious to the contrast in the context.
Despite receiving no support from the global community, Palestinians—especially those in Gaza—have shown extraordinary courage and resolve. They have stood firm against powerful nations that continue to arm and diplomatically back Israel. Even with overwhelming military superiority and advanced weaponry, Israel and its Western allies have failed to extinguish the Palestinians’ will to exist. Armed with an unshakable love for their homeland, Palestinians have demonstrated that courage and conviction can endure even in the face of unimaginable brutality.
The land that has been littered with blood and dead bodies of Palestinians bears a strong testimony that it belongs to those who are ready to die for it and not to those who have come to destroy it. Every injured Palestinian child and bereaved parent declare in unison that Palestinians will continue to live and die in their land and their source of strength is not modern, hi-tech weapons but truth and moral rectitude.
The true message of Easter celebrates a determined crucified Christ, the pain endured, and death defeated. It marks the beginning of a new hope, a new beginning, and a new eternity. No message contains more hope for the millions of displaced people in Gaza than this.
But, as Pope Francis once remarked, “a Cross without Christ is spiritual masochism, and Christ without the Cross is merely a good teacher – neither of these has hope or can save on their own.”
The pain and hardship endured by the people of Gaza will remain senseless and meaningless unless we can view it from the shadow of the cross, and find the terrible beauty that is born in the suffering and hardship of the Palestinian people.
A BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING
The Christian faith, unlike others, was – and is – built on the platform of weakness. And to reinforce the platform of weakness, God put certain structures in place to secure sustained intimacy with God. For the early church, these virtues were not only accentuated through suffering and persecution but also solidified. It was a new religion of strength in weakness and wisdom in foolishness. Because the earth wasn’t their home, the early Christians could say without reservation, like Paul, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
Much of what Jesus taught became the DNA of the early Church. It was not only a theology of denying yourself and taking up your cross theoretically, but it was a daily exercise. Not only did the early believers teach and preach Jesus during the first several hundred years after his death and resurrection, but they also lived lives that reflected their teachings. The apostles never saw themselves as the ‘Persecuted Church”. They saw themselves as “the Church”. Persecution was not something that elevated one disciple higher than the other or indicated a deeper level of followship. It was simply normal Christianity. As a matter of fact, when James is beheaded in Acts 12, only one verse is dedicated to his martyrdom. It was the reality of faith in the first century and not a theology to apply or a truth to declare. They simply followed in the footsteps of their master as they were reminded of the terrible beauty that was born on the cross.
As long as those who followed Jesus understood that they were on the bottom and the edge of society, as long as they shared the rejected and “terrible beauty” of Jesus, they could grasp his teaching more readily. Persecution became the “true North” from which they could calibrate their faith.
With nearly every Palestinian in Gaza now being displaced and facing the realities of hunger, embracing the cross could be the first step towards a new hope and an eternal future. Principles of loving our enemy can only fully be understood when we stand in the shadow of the cross and observe our Saviour asking forgiveness for those who are about to kill him. Teachings like loving our enemy only take root when we are unjustly harmed and victimised. Unless we feel it, it remains a theology with little power and no influence. For the Church in Gaza, the terrible beauty of the cross of Easter is more relevant than ever before. They have nothing to lose and nothing to prove. Their strength lies in their weakness and their relevance in their intimacy with a crucified Saviour, sharing a cross. They now serve from the bottom up.
John Piper said the following:
More and more, I am persuaded from Scripture and from the history of missions that God’s design for the evangelization of the world and the consummation of his purposes includes the suffering of his ministers and missionaries. To put it more plainly and specifically, God designs that the suffering of his ministers and missionaries is one essential means in the joyful, triumphant spread of the gospel among all the peoples of the world.
This is the terrible beauty that was conceived in heaven and born on the cross.
[1] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-322-children-reportedly-killed-gaza-strip-following-breakdown-ceasefire
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/mar/27/gaza-palestine-children-injuries
Picture: The Porphyrius Church in Gaza was severely damaged in an explosion in Gaza in October 2023