When Jesus told Peter to put his sword away and then faced his accusers and confronted death without violence, Jesus was living out the way that the reign of God confronts evil.

The resurrection of Jesus, God’s act in history to overcome the ultimate enemy—death—puts God’s stamp of approval on Jesus. Resurrection is God’s testimony that in Jesus, the reign of God has entered into the world.

The resurrection of Jesus is an advance sample of the reign of God that will become visible in its fullness when Jesus returns. To see the life and teaching of Jesus is to see how things are under the rule of God.

from The Nonviolent Atonement