Resurrection—not progress, not evolution, not enlightenment, but a call from heaven to us: “Rise up! You are dead, but I will give you life.” That is what is proclaimed here, and it is the only way that the world can be saved. …
We do not like to see that we are deeply imprisoned, and that we absolutely cannot in any way help ourselves; that we are a people who live in the shadow and darkness of death; that this is proclaimed to us in the word “resurrection”—oh, that is for us the bitter, unendurable truth which stirs us to rebellion. That is the darkness in the clear word “resurrection.”
Nevertheless, wherever that crystal-clear word “resurrection” shall be heard and understood, a prior word must be heard and perceived: “Death.” It must be seen that in the midst of life, even in blooming and healthy life, there is a yawning chasm, a deep pit that cannot be filled by any art or power of man. Only one word is sufficient to cover this chasm, to fill this pit: “Jesus is victor!”—that is, “resurrection.”
— Karl Barth, from “Threatened by Resurrection”