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Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-9 ● Unpacking the enormity of the resurrection and the implications of such an event would take a lifetime. Resurrection is more than a list of propositions and proofs… it’s an incredible story! The story should leave us with our ‘heads spinning’, and our ‘hearts burning’ (as the couple from Emmaus: Luke 24). I love what one author said about the story of the resurrection, “If it’s not unbelievable, it’s not believable. The gospel is too good to be true”. That same author’s definition of a preacher: “A steward of the wildest mysteries of them all!”(Frederick Buechner) Maybe if the story weren’t so incredible, we’d be inclined not to believe it! ● I’m afraid that our presentations have most often reduced its significance. On the one hand, we would bemoan the fact that Easter has been “secularized” and become all about colored eggs and chocolate bunnies; on the other hand, I think that the church has, at times, rather sincerely underestimated the significance of the resurrection and limited its implications. ● It would be futile to argue for the reality of the resurrection (that it really did happen) if we’re not sure why it happened. What did it mean? I’m sure that if asked, we would be presented with a host of varying responses… … Jesus proved that death was not final, … Jesus demonstrated that since he was raised from the dead, we too, as his followers, should expect to be raised from the dead as well, … it means I get to go to heaven when I die. ● There is certainly a validity to all of those expressions, but, what if there’s more to it than that?! In fact, that’s my position; my suggestion. ● We should also be reminded that the last thing that anyone expected to find as they approached the garden of Joseph of Arimathea was an empty tomb. They went there for the express purpose of ‘preparing the body’; they were convinced that he had died. None of them presumed that Jesus could have possibly survived crucifixion. If there was one thing that the Romans were really proficient at killing people! As we saw from the story, they even had ways of ‘speeding’ the process. Amidst all of Jesus’ cryptic messages (‘destroy this temple and I will raise it up again in three days’), they never imagined that he was referring to his own resurrection. Certainly they believed in the resurrection from the dead, but that would be something that would happen later. ● Jesus would, at times, tell them plainly he would die and be resurrected (Matt.20); often, his messages were more “cryptic” (‘destroy this temple and I will raise it up again in three days’). Either way, they struggled to believe; it didn’t fit their “theology”! ►Resurrection is to be (and can only be) understood within the context of the overarching narrative of the “Exile and Exodus” (prime narrative of the Jewish people). The key elements of the story are only to be understood within the particularly Jewish story. Paul’s determination is that these events included in the Easter story are not to be understood as merely random or peculiar, but the fulfillment of God’s promises and the good plans for the whole created-order. As with every culture, the Jews told their story as a way of explaining their world. The Jews believed that theirs was the one true story of the world set in opposition to other stories which were merely distortions or cheap imitations of reality. Their story suggested: ~ There was one true Creator-God and he took delight in all that he had made and called it “good”. The story tell us who we are (God’s unique image-bearing creation), where we are (in a good place, but a place that’s been corrupted) what’s gone wrong (we’re disconnected from God and each other) and what’s the solution? (God, the creator, must act to restore and reclaim his good creation) ~ The Jews believed that God had chosen them to be his message-bearers (“light of the world”). But, those chosen to be part of the solution became part of the problem; they themselves needed to be rescued. They believed that when God acted decisively in history to rescue them and defeat evil, the whole of creation would experience renewal. ~ The Jews spoke of a “present age” and an “age to come”. They believed that history was going somewhere- toward the fulfillment of God’s good purposes for his creation. ►Resurrection means what it says; Jesus has died, been through death and come out the other side. The word “resurrection” was not used to describe a spiritual experience, or to refer to one who has been resuscitated; it’s not used to describe someone who’s had a ‘comeback’ of sorts (i.e. ‘he came back from the dead’- bounced back). It means that someone who was physically dead was now physically alive! (certainly with some broadened improvements!) ►Resurrection is not about “escaping” the world, but fully “engaging” it. The idea of death was not to escape the body and be liberated, but to have the body restored, along with all of creation, to its original design. Freedom from all detachment- i.e. the body and physicality- is certainly popular, but it’s not Christian… it’s Buddhism; ‘nirvana’. ►The resurrection is not just the surprise “happy-ending” for one person, but the turning point of the entire world! (an ‘alternate ending’) Without the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the story is tragedy; another delusional “would-be” Messiah realizing the same fate as all the others before him. And alongside Jesus’ tragic demise lie, once again, the dashed hopes of an anxious and expectant people (“we had hoped he was the one who would rescue Israel…” Luke 24). ● The early followers told the story as if all the old promises had come and were coming true at last in Jesus. ● They believed that all the old promises had come and were coming true at last in Jesus (i.e. all the promises of a King from David’s lineage whose Kingdom would last forever; a return from the greatest exile of all-death; the promise that all the world (people and creation itself) would be “blessed” (Genesis 12). ►The resurrection is not only in some sense the “end of the beginning”, but the “beginning of the end”; it is finished… but, it’s just begun! There is sense in which it is finished… yet, it’s not fully implemented. John introduces his story with “In the beginning…”, reminiscent of another “beginning” in Genesis 1. Jesus, in John 3, talks about being “born again” and in John 20:22, Jesus “breathed on his disciples and said, receive the Holy Spirit” (indicative of the breath of God; the Spirit bringing life). It would be hard for any first century Jew hearing such things to miss the implications and ignore the parallels to the story. ● Jesus, dying under the weight of evil, and rising to launch God’s reclamation project of creation restored! The whole world is longing for its “exodus” (to be released to become all that it was intended to be); God is coming to set the world right, and when he does, Isaiah says…(55:10-13) “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn-bush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever." ● Resurrection reversed the effects of the fall in ways that we are yet to fully understand. ►The resurrection says, “You are here!” It’s really futile to have an idea of where you are going if you cannot relate it to where you are now. Have you ever tried to get directions “to” somewhere without first being conscious of “where you were”? The story (Bible) locates us somewhere between the resurrection of Jesus (end of the beginning) and the renewal of all things (beginning of the end). The resurrection indicates that God’s new world has been inaugurated and will one day be fulfilled. So, we, as so many others historically, live within the tension of the “already” and the “not yet”; of being convinced that something “happened” and something is “going to happen!” Admittedly, our vision is blurred; our understanding partial, at best. We have historical records and metaphors and word pictures, but not an encased ‘scale model’ of the new creation! ● What we have are signposts (directional indicators) into God’s new world. Having determined your confidence in those signposts, you naturally begin to move in that direction, although the destination is not in plain sight (i.e. no one stays at the ‘You Are Here’ spot in the mall). ►The resurrection says that creation was not a “failed experiment”. Jesus was not “super-human”, but the “true-human”. Representative of all that man was created to be- lovingly connected with God and others and faithfully stewarding all of God’s good creation. ● The story emphasizes that God is the good creator and evil is real and powerful and has had devastating effects on creation. But, God’s answer to evil is not to belittle it (pretend it’s no big deal), or to say that evil has so corrupted good creation that it should just be discarded; God’s answer was to “reclaim it”- to “rescue” it! Jesus’ resurrection was God’s way of validating his rescue mission and affirming the value of humanity. ►The resurrection says that we are to live in the present in light of our future. Admittedly, we are more influenced and shaped by our past. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me… therefore, go and make it happen!” Jesus’ message involved a real, ‘on the ground’, ‘where you live’ type of practice. It was ‘not of this world’, but not ‘other-worldly’ in the sense that it did not speak to reality. Our approach has interpreted Jesus’ parting instruction as, “Wait right here until I get back; try not to touch anything”. So, we spend our lives rather fearfully and cautiously, hoping not to forfeit our shot at heaven! Philippians 1:6 “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” ● In Matthew 28, Jesus promised that he would be with us “to the very end of the age”. ● Jesus’ resurrection opens up the potential for a new life in a new world; and although it’s yet to be completed, it starts now! (Philippians 2- ‘every knee…’ God is already working out his good purposes in us!) In the meantime, “transformation”; a refusal to allow the opposing stories to shape your worldview (Romans 12:1-2). A “re-thinking” (repentance) of life in light of the introduction of God’s new life; bodies and minds rightly ordered and directed toward God. “What if it’s true?” The most frequent command in the Bible is “don’t be afraid”; “fear not” (not, “Hey you, stop that!”). But, we’re afraid; afraid to believe that it’s true… afraid to think of our future if it’s not. Psychologists tell us that when we’re afraid (in crisis), we have a tendency to “see what we want to see”. But, the opposite of that is also true: when we feel helpless and afraid, we can become blind to what’s right in front of us! ● Ever wondered what would it be like to live without fear? What would it be like to believe that Jesus’ resurrection was the inauguration of a new world of rightness, peace and joy? Paul said that if Jesus is not raised, we’re fools; we’re wasting our time; we’re living a lie. ● Some have suggested that we as Christians have wanted so badly for it to be true that we’ve become delusional; having psychologically convinced ourselves of something that’s not real. ● But, if it is true… we can live without fear; we have nothing to be afraid of. What we’ve witnessed in the resurrection of Jesus is the “perfect love of God” (1 John 4: context is God’s demonstration of love that he sent his son to rescue us; that we might live through him).
“What if it’s true? What are you afraid of?” |
