“But Indeed Christ Has Been Raised From the Dead!”
(1 Corinthians 15:20)
I find
that the Christian proclamation about the risen Jesus gains in power when we
concede what a surprise it actually was that he did so. The resurrection
of Jesus is a miracle. It follows after the humiliation, brutal beating,
and the horrific crucifixion of the very one who had been expected to overthrow
the powers of the world in His day (the Romans). Within hours after
celebrating the Passover with his disciples he was shown wasted and dead.
For the several days that followed after his burial in the tomb, his disciples
despaired to the point of leaving their buried Jesus behind in Jerusalem and
returning to their earlier lines of work on the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-5).
Clearly they expected their previous chapter with Jesus was now closed.
Of course
we Christians today know the whole story in a way that the disciples didn’t see
at their moment in time. Unlike those disciples, we Christians today
appeal to an actual miracle after the fact, which gives weight to
Jesus’ predictions (Matthew 16:21). They, by contrast, were confused by
his predictions (Mathew 16:22 and 17:23). We also know the promises the
Bible made concerning Jesus throughout the Old Testament which foretold the
ultimate victory of the coming Messiah (Psalm 16:9-11). And thirdly we
understand that the God who made the heavens and the earth can, if He
indeed wishes, do all things. Yet it is also true that resurrections from
the dead are hardly common occurrences! Jewish believers understood that
there would be a general resurrection of all people at the end of the
world. But not in the middle of history! (John 11:24). And in
fact, coming back from the dead has never been claimed to have happened within history
(except just once so far). Yet this is what Christians confess about
Jesus of Nazareth: that his dead body which had been placed in a tomb came back
to life again on the third day. And that is no less than a surprising
miracle!
Christian
belief says, “It is indeed true that Christ Jesus was raised from the dead
on the third day and therefore He is alive this very day as Lord of all.”
When we say the words, “This is true,” we are making a very bold
statement. We are declaring by this statement that Jesus’ resurrection
from the dead is an absolute fact for the entire world, and not just for
Christians. This makes the central Christian claim the most important
fact in the entire world. Consequently this claim also raises important
questions. Does it stand up under scrutiny? Can it stand up?
Is it supposed to stand up according to the Bible itself? Christians
claim the resurrection of Jesus is a fact. Yet there is also another
fact. Many people within our very own culture either do not believe our
claim, or they live their lives as though this claim is of no importance to
them. So the final question is, do (un)popularity polls have any bearing
on the truth of our claim?
To be continued...
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