Resurrection

 Holy Saturday

Second Day of Triduum

Lectionary Texts for Holy Saturday:

OT: Genesis 12:1-3

Psalter: Psalm 130 (UMH 848)

Gospel: Matthew 27:62-66

Easter Sunday:

Acts 10:34-43

Psalter: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (UMH 839)

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Gospel: John 20:1-18

N.B. During the Season of Easter, readings from Acts are substituted for readings from the OT.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ defies human rationality and defies at least our current understanding of science. Yet most consider it the central doctrine of the Christian faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain." Rationalistic Christians and secular Biblical scholars have  for the last two centuries debunked the resurrection claim. Some have noted the inconsistencies in the Gospel accounts. Here are just a couple: All four gospels have the story of the empty tomb but no two agree on either who went to the empty tomb or who was inside the empty tomb when she/they got there. In Matthew it's Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary." In Mark it's Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. In Luke it's Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and "other women." In John it's Mary Magdalene alone. 

 

In Matthew the women are met by an angel on the stone in front of the tomb. In Mark, it's a young man in the tomb. In Luke it's two men. In John it's two angels. In Matthew and Mark the angel/young man tells the women to tell the disciples to go to Galilee. They will see Jesus there. In Matthew they do just that. In Luke the two men in the tomb tell the women to tell the disciples to stay in Jerusalem. They do just that. In John the resurrected Jesus appears in both Jerusalem and Galilee. 

There are numerous other inconsistencies as well. For many scholars this is just too much. Most agree  that something happened that convinced the women and the disciples and many others that Jesus had arisen. Some call it mass hysteria. Others may claim that tomb robbers stole the body. Others claim that the empty tomb and resurrection appearances were stories completely made up. Many Christians, on the other hand, say you just have to believe and never question anything. 

Methodist that I am, I question everything. I don't have to have all the details in perfect order to get the gist of the story. For all the inconsistencies, there are also consistencies--consistencies that don't make this sound like a made up story. In all the accounts it is women who go to the empty tomb that Sunday morning. In all the accounts Mary Magdalene is one of them. In none of the accounts does anyone see the actual resurrection take place. These consistencies demonstrate authenticity. If the stories were made up, men would have been the first to the tomb, since women were not at that time considered to be reliable witnesses. If the stories were made up, someone would have seen the resurrection take place. 

All the resurrection appearances are bodily. The risen Jesus was not a ghost. In none of the resurrection appearances does Jesus appear in a vision or a dream. He is a tangible body who speaks, listens, eats, drinks, touches. Although he is no longer bound by the human limitations of time and space (i.e. he can appear and disappear), he is still a body during the 40 days between resurrection and ascension. After that time, Paul will encounter Jesus in a visionary experience but not as a body.

All of this leads me to affirm with certainty the ancient Christian Easter greeting:

Christ is risen!!!

He is risen indeed!!!

May your Easter be blessed, even though most of us won't be worshipping in church in person. Next Easter, we will.

Faithfully,

Christian