"God was the central reality of [Jesus's] life and the kingdom of God was the center of his message. The kingdom of God was not about heaven, not about life after death, but about the transformation of life on earth, as the Lord’s Prayer affirms. It is not about 'Take us to heaven when we die,' but about 'Your kingdom come on earth' – as already in heaven. The kingdom of God on earth was about God’s passion – and Jesus’s passion – for the transformation of 'this world': the humanly created world of injustice and violence into a world of justice and nonviolence. That’s why the powers that ruled the world of Jesus killed him. They were not unknowingly doing the will of God by playing their part in God’s plan of salvation to provide a sinless sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world. No. They killed him because he was a radical critic of the way they had put the world together and he was attracting a following. So they snuffed him out. In this context, Easter is about God’s 'yes' to Jesus and God’s 'no' to the powers that killed him. That, I suggest, is the primary meaning not only of Pau’s testimony and affirmation, but also of the Easter stories in the gospels."

--Marcus Borg

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/marcusborg/2014/04/easter-again/