What does Easter mean (according to BTS)?

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When the tracklist for BTS’s latest album, "Arirang," was released, I was excited when I saw the title of one of the songs: “2.0.” That was on March 3, the Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent, but I was already looking forward to Easter. I thought that “2.0” was a profound way to summarize Easter, and I wasn’t disappointed when I finally heard the track.

“2.0” talks not just about a return but an upgrade. The Resurrected Lord isn’t just a resuscitation of the Crucified Christ; this wasn’t just Lazarus being raised back to life. Lazarus still died later on, but the Risen Jesus “dies no more” and “death no longer has power over him” (see Romans 6:9). This is an upgrade that is also promised to us!

The Resurrection is “Chance 2.0,” a second chance and actually a third, a fourth, and countless more. The Resurrection is God trying again and telling us, “You rejected my Son, but I am going to raise him up to give you another opportunity to accept him.” It is God’s stubborn mercy, refusing to let rejection be the last word. Each time humanity turns away, God turns the story back toward love.

And with the Korean lyrics translated as “Light the fire, brand new,” this track seems to anticipate the Lucernarium, the blessing of the fire and the lighting of the Paschal candle, the rites with which we began last night’s Easter Vigil.

But the song that really made my ears perk up and my eyes widen when I first heard it was the second track on Arirang. I thought I heard one of the boys sing: “Whole again!” And when I heard “Whole again” repeated just one verse later, I almost jumped out of my seat. This was yet another striking way to explain what Easter is.

The cross on Good Friday holds our gaze and compels us to confront brokenness: A broken body, a broken heart, broken hopes, broken dreams—all broken by our weakness. But the empty tomb on Easter Sunday proclaims the even more compelling message that what was shattered can be made “whole again.” Wholeness doesn’t mean that wounds are simply erased. Jesus, after all, still bore his wounds when he appeared to his disciples. Easter is not about erasing scars but about transforming them into signs of love. To be “whole again” is to enter into God’s shalom—a peace that gathers fragments, heals divisions, restores meaning, and completes.

Then I heard, “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,” and I was reminded of the “Risus Paschalis,” an old European tradition of the priest telling joke after joke during the Easter homily. The objective was to get the whole church laughing—because that is what Easter is: Laughter in the face of despair, destruction, and death.

I checked the lyrics online to be sure, and I got even more excited to learn that it was j-hope singing. Which BTS member had a more fitting name, right? But then I was sort of disappointed when I finally read the lyrics. I had misheard what j-hope was singing. It wasn’t “Whole again,” but “Hooligan!”

But disappointment made me go deeper. This was still Easter because to whom is the Resurrection promised? To hooligans: To disciples who had abandoned Christ on the cross; to deserters, deniers, and doubters;  to the troubled troublemakers we all are. But when j-hope uses the word hooligan, he actually gives it a positive meaning: Rule-breaking celebration! And Easter gives us a reason to celebrate because it has broken all the rules and everything we know about death.

Okay, okay… I admit that is quite a stretch… hehehe. Or maybe I should go “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

But there is a BTS track where the Easter connection isn’t a stretch. Let me indulge in a little nostalgia and go back to 2021 when the boys released “Permission to Dance.” It went viral (no pun intended) during the pandemic because of its message of courage and joy during difficult times. The United Nations even chose this song to promote its Sustainable Development Goals.

Your prayer assignment this week:

Dance to “Permission to Dance” while praying about Easter with its lyrics:

When the nights get colder
And the rhythms got you fallin' behind
Just dream about that moment

When we start losing hope—especially with all that’s happening inside ourselves and outside in the world—we dream about the moment of Easter and remind us of what it promises.

We don't need to worry
'Cause when we fall, we know how to land

Easter assures us that we can rise again after a fall. We don’t need to worry—Jesus has taught us how to land.

I wanna dance, the music's got me goin'
Ain't nothin' that can stop how we move, yeah
Let's break our plans and live just like we're golden

Easter has broken all the rules and promises a life that is golden. The Resurrection tells us that nothing can stop us now.

Don't need to talk the talk, just walk the walk tonight
'Cause we don't need permission to dance

But we cannot just talk the talk. We need to walk the walk and live out the Resurrection by never letting go of hope. We don’t need any other permission to dance. Easter itself is the permission… and our mission. The Resurrection is God’s invitation to dance with hope, to live as if death has already been defeated. Because it has.

Fr. Francis teaches Theology, Education and Scripture at both the Ateneo de Manila University and Loyola School of Theology. As a classroom teacher, he is first and foremost a student. As a professor, he sees himself primarily as a pastor.