Christ is Risen – He is Risen indeed!

Fact or fiction – proof or faith?

Was Jesus really risen from the dead?
The Christian confession in the resurrection of Jesus has been at the core of the Christian faith for nearly 2000 years. Although it is the confession of most who profess a faith in Christ, what are the thoughts and questions going on behind the scenes that lead people to such a conclusion?
I have encountered many Christians during this past 38 days of lent who wrestle with or accept the confession of the resurrection of Jesus in different ways. Was it really a bodily resurrection? What really happened to Jesus body afterwards if that is the case? Did Jesus really rise from death? These are legitimate, yet for some disturbing questions, that Christians of today are wrestling with in order to try and understand a tradition, a creedal statement, a confession that has been around for so long.

I think it is healthy for Christians today to be in dialogue with one another on such a topic and be allowed to sit with the questions for a while. Why is it so important for us to believe in such things? Can we actually sit with one another with different views on this and still respect one another and get along?

The authors of each Gospel (the four we have in our bibles anyway) pay particular attention to the final week of Jesus life, including death and resurrection. Only three of the original Gospel accounts have extensive resurrection stories. It certainly becomes apparent in these accounts that the authors go to great lengths to share eye witness accounts as proof of the resurrection. Skeptics would say that this is just the way the author tweaks the story to get the reader to believe. However even the resurrected Jesus in the stories say, ‘how happy are those who believe yet have not seen’.

I particularly like the original ending of Mark’s Gospel which has no such appearances of a resurrected Jesus at all. In fact, Mark leaves the reader with an empty tomb and the women who found it fleeing from the scene trembling and bewildered and not telling anyone about it because they were afraid (Mark 16:1-8). What I love about Mark’s Gospel is that he leaves us, the reader, to make up our own mind.

Our lectionary focused it's attention of the Gospel of John...again (surprise, surprise) this Easter Sunday. I am always captivated by the characters John chooses to focus on in the story. In fact for John the resurrection is a personal event for each of the characters - Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Peter and 'the other disciple' (the one whom Jesus loved, or the one who loved Jesus, depending on how you read your Greek). Each of them experienced the resurrected Jesus differently. I am particularly interested in Mary's experience - she didn't even recognize Jesus. This is not unlike the story told by Luke when Jesus walked to Emmaus with 2 disciples and 'they didn't recognize him'. So I go, 'what's all that about?' when those who were closest to him in life and ministry either don't believe Jesus was raised from death (Thomas and Peter) or don't recognise the resurrected Christ. No wonder it's a hard story for people to swallow 2000 years later.

I suspect they may be looking for the Jesus of their own construction. It's not unlike what we do to Jesus today, we construct an image of Jesus that suits us, an image that may be an untruth, a Jesus that we are comfortable with. Regardless of facts, or historical/eye witness 'proof' the Jesus we often meet is Jesus on our terms. So what happens then when we are confronted by the resurrected Christ, the Jesus not our our own construction but of God? What happens when we encounter that which cannot be proven or explained? Sure we can be left bewildered, confused and afraid failing to recognise - after all, that's exactly what the Gospels tells us of the experiences of those who actually experienced the risen Christ 2000 years ago.

Another thing I find fascinating in the accounts the resurrected Christ has with certain characters is this, even when they don't recognise him him recognizes them. He calls Mary by name, that is the point of her revelation. The hope Christians have is not based in evidence, nor does it need to be. The hope on this day of resurrection is that Jesus recognizes us even when we don’t recognize him.

Proof is not needed at all in order to testify to the resurrection. While I think it is healthy for us to debate such a topic there is no need for us to oppress one another with 'proof text's' or forcefully twist anothers arm to think the same way. In fact we may even learn something about resurrection of Jesus from another persons experience that can teach us something more of the nature of God and the hope we share.

Confession in the resurrection of Jesus has always been a matter of faith. Those who have faith in such an event proclaim it is God’s divine ‘YES’ to the faithful life Jesus lived. God raised Jesus in an action that defied death, so those who believe could have hope in a God who can create something new out of a devastating event. This would lead us to understand why every Easter Sunday, Christians proclaim that Jesus is alive which is why we have hope and life in Christ today.

Shalom Mark