Is there a resurrection of the dead? The Easter answer to that question is simple: Yes. God has raised Jesus. He has taken our greatest sin – the rejection of his Son – and He has turned it into the forgiveness of sins and our greatest good – reconciliation with Him and eternal life in his Kingdom.
The truth of Easter is easy to doubt. For that reason, I've found that it’s a good practice to consider the truth of Easter in light of other questions regarding the Christian faith. Because these other questions all have a “yes” answer, they offer encouragement that the promise of Easter is indeed true.
When we ask whether God raises the dead and brings good out of evil, we can ask also whether the words of Christ are true. Here are just a few to consider: When we try to save our life, do we thereby lose it; and when we lose our life for the sake of following Christ, do we thereby find it? (Mat. 16:25) Do those who are weary and carrying heavy burdens find rest for their souls in Jesus? Is his yoke easy and his burden light? (Mat. 11:28) Does being a disciple of Jesus free us from bondage to sin? (John 8:31-36)
Another set of questions to consider comes from the Beatitudes, where Jesus pronounces blessings on the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. (Mat. 5:3-10) Are such people truly blessed? Is there an unseen Kingdom of God within/among us (Luke 17:21), where the people described in the Beatitudes find blessing and joy? And lastly, is there really a Kingdom “not from this world” (John 18:36) in which Jesus is King and which we find by faith in – and obedience to – him?
To those who ever have ventured forth in faith and, with Christ, died to this world, these questions are easy to answer. Yes, we find our true selves by denying ourselves, and we find true life by dying with Christ. Yes, there is a Kingdom of God that is “not from this world”, where Jesus reigns and where those who have him as their King are truly blessed.
The “yes” answer to these other questions points to the truth of Easter. And so yes, God raised Jesus from the dead, and those who are “buried with him in baptism” are “also raised with him through faith in the power of God.” (Colossians 2:12) Ultimately, the truth of Easter (Jesus is risen) is the fundamental truth of life. All the "yes" answers to the other questions are rooted in the ultimate "yes" of Easter.
Of course, it’s possible to grasp the truth of Easter with the intellect and remain unchanged. The purpose of the Easter message is not speculation nor even fascination, but discipleship. That’s because Truth is not merely a concept to be grasped with the intellect, but a Person to be trusted and loved. Jesus, in his very Person, is the Truth of Easter. He is risen, and “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom. 6:5) As Luther would say, this is most certainly true.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Inseparable
One of the more peculiar things about Good Friday is the tendency to act as if Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead. I know that we’re supposed to commemorate his crucifixion and death on Good Friday, but it doesn’t make much sense to ignore Easter Sunday. Apart from the Easter resurrection, Good Friday is nowise “good” and is really nothing more than a funeral for a man who was executed (tragically and wrongly) a long time ago.
There are some who would say that the resurrection doesn’t matter because we have Jesus’ teachings regardless of whether he is alive or dead. What such a statement fails to notice is that Jesus’ teachings contain two inseparable parts: the call to deny ourselves and die with him, and the promise that we will thereby find our true selves and live with him. If we do away with Jesus’ promise of Easter, then we’re left only with a despair-inducing call to die on not-so-Good Friday. (Note the opposite error: doing away with the call of Good Friday and trying to keep the promise of Easter.)
The point I’m trying to make is that Good Friday should not blind us to the fact that Jesus has been raised and that we too are to rise with him. Saint Paul puts it this way: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:17, 19) Even on Good Friday, there’s no point in pretending that Jesus is dead and we are enslaved to sin. Certainly we can recall that Jesus has died and that we once were enslaved to sin, but notice the change in the tense. Death and slavery are in the past, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise just because it’s Good Friday.
And so I would like to recommend that everyone read Romans 5:9-11 this Friday: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The call and the promise - Good Friday and Easter - cannot be separated.
There are some who would say that the resurrection doesn’t matter because we have Jesus’ teachings regardless of whether he is alive or dead. What such a statement fails to notice is that Jesus’ teachings contain two inseparable parts: the call to deny ourselves and die with him, and the promise that we will thereby find our true selves and live with him. If we do away with Jesus’ promise of Easter, then we’re left only with a despair-inducing call to die on not-so-Good Friday. (Note the opposite error: doing away with the call of Good Friday and trying to keep the promise of Easter.)
The point I’m trying to make is that Good Friday should not blind us to the fact that Jesus has been raised and that we too are to rise with him. Saint Paul puts it this way: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins…If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:17, 19) Even on Good Friday, there’s no point in pretending that Jesus is dead and we are enslaved to sin. Certainly we can recall that Jesus has died and that we once were enslaved to sin, but notice the change in the tense. Death and slavery are in the past, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise just because it’s Good Friday.
And so I would like to recommend that everyone read Romans 5:9-11 this Friday: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” The call and the promise - Good Friday and Easter - cannot be separated.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Hosanna!
This Sunday, many churches will celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. I’m not a big fan of the Palm Sunday celebration. Often we're told to process into the church carrying palm fronds and shouting “Hosanna!” Perhaps it’s just my personal aversion to acting, but I find the whole thing kind of phony.
My personal tastes aside, there is a serious problem about what we do in church on Palm Sunday. We often go through the skit with the underlying notion that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a distant, one-time event. Thus, Palm Sunday becomes a quaint remembrance of something that doesn’t mean much to us anymore. Some people enjoy the theatrics (or some, like me, want to process out of the church instead of into it), but our souls remain untouched by Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
What am I getting at here? Put simply, Palm Sunday should not be merely a commemoration of a one-time event. Indeed it is that, but it also points to Jesus’ ongoing entry into the hearts of men and women today. This is His promise: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)
So Palm Sunday points not just to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem two-thousand years ago. It points also to Jesus’ entry into “the Jerusalem above,” which is our true home and “our mother.” (Gal. 4:26) And so the real question on Palm Sunday is this: Are we ready for Jesus’ entry? He is standing at the door, knocking.
Are we ready? The first two things Jesus did when He entered Jerusalem were cleanse the temple and curse the barren fig tree. (Mat. 21:12-22) Today, if Jesus finds us bartering with God and giving Him things rather than our selves, then He will overturn our tables and drive us out. Remember that “the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken Spirit.” (Psalm 51:17) Moreover, this “broken Spirit” is none other than the Spirit of Christ living within us. He is our sacrifice, and He puts an end to our attempt to barter with God.
Also, if Jesus finds us barren, then He will say to us, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” (Mat. 21:19) And we, like the fig tree, will wither. Remember that Christ's Spirit produces the fruit of “love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22)
We can yell “Hosanna!” all we want on Palm Sunday (I’d prefer we not), but we shouldn’t lose sight of how contemporary this event really is. Insofar as we are not ready for Jesus’ entry, we’ll be offended by Him and end up crucifying Him. Nevertheless, He will rise – Happy Easter – and the promise of His coming to us will be renewed once again: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)
My personal tastes aside, there is a serious problem about what we do in church on Palm Sunday. We often go through the skit with the underlying notion that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a distant, one-time event. Thus, Palm Sunday becomes a quaint remembrance of something that doesn’t mean much to us anymore. Some people enjoy the theatrics (or some, like me, want to process out of the church instead of into it), but our souls remain untouched by Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
What am I getting at here? Put simply, Palm Sunday should not be merely a commemoration of a one-time event. Indeed it is that, but it also points to Jesus’ ongoing entry into the hearts of men and women today. This is His promise: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)
So Palm Sunday points not just to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem two-thousand years ago. It points also to Jesus’ entry into “the Jerusalem above,” which is our true home and “our mother.” (Gal. 4:26) And so the real question on Palm Sunday is this: Are we ready for Jesus’ entry? He is standing at the door, knocking.
Are we ready? The first two things Jesus did when He entered Jerusalem were cleanse the temple and curse the barren fig tree. (Mat. 21:12-22) Today, if Jesus finds us bartering with God and giving Him things rather than our selves, then He will overturn our tables and drive us out. Remember that “the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken Spirit.” (Psalm 51:17) Moreover, this “broken Spirit” is none other than the Spirit of Christ living within us. He is our sacrifice, and He puts an end to our attempt to barter with God.
Also, if Jesus finds us barren, then He will say to us, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” (Mat. 21:19) And we, like the fig tree, will wither. Remember that Christ's Spirit produces the fruit of “love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22)
We can yell “Hosanna!” all we want on Palm Sunday (I’d prefer we not), but we shouldn’t lose sight of how contemporary this event really is. Insofar as we are not ready for Jesus’ entry, we’ll be offended by Him and end up crucifying Him. Nevertheless, He will rise – Happy Easter – and the promise of His coming to us will be renewed once again: “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
True Wisdom
It has been said that the book of Job refutes all human attempts at wisdom. To recall, Job’s life was brought to ruin and he, in turn, tried to build his “case” to bring before God. While Job’s friends tried to explain away his suffering (he must be guilty of some sin, otherwise God wouldn’t have inflicted him with such suffering), Job maintained that he was innocent and that his suffering was unfair.
God met Job’s desire for a hearing with a harsh series of questions: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me…” (Job 38:2-3) Job's response to his Creator: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:3, 6)
Job fell silent in the presence of God. Neither Job’s “case” nor his friends’ explanations could stand, because God’s wisdom is categorically different than human wisdom. Isaiah 55:8 speaks of this difference: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
Job illustrates a fundamental truth of our existence: human wisdom is folly before God. At one point, God asked Job, “Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (40:8) In short, our attempt to justify ourselves leads to the condemnation of God. Indeed, this is what happened when Christ was crucified: we condemned God in our attempt to assert our own righteousness. Ultimately, such wisdom is the peak of folly.
The truly wise are those who fall silent before their Creator. It is in this sense that Romans says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” (Rom. 3:19) Job fell silent, for he knew that his “case” led to the condemnation of God. In like manner, all should fall silent because the human project of self-justification (human “wisdom”) has climaxed with the crucifixion of Christ.
Insofar as we fall silent like Job, we will enter into the sufferings of Christ with docility. We will empty ourselves just as Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” (Philippians 2:7) We will have “the mind of Christ”, which is true wisdom because “no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:11)
To human wisdom, entering the sufferings of the crucified Christ looks only like foolishness and death. However, to those who have the “mind of Christ”, the crucified Jesus of Nazareth is also the risen Lord of all. Denying ourselves and following Him into death, we find our true selves and eternal life. This is because the One that “emptied himself” is the same One that “God also highly exalted.” (Philippians 2:7, 9)
To fall silent before God (to be "dumb" in His presence) is simply the precondition to our hearing of God’s Word. Our silence is not the end, for God continues to speak. And it is in hearing and heeding that “foolish” Word – hearing and heeding Jesus Christ Himself – that we become truly wise.
God met Job’s desire for a hearing with a harsh series of questions: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me…” (Job 38:2-3) Job's response to his Creator: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:3, 6)
Job fell silent in the presence of God. Neither Job’s “case” nor his friends’ explanations could stand, because God’s wisdom is categorically different than human wisdom. Isaiah 55:8 speaks of this difference: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
Job illustrates a fundamental truth of our existence: human wisdom is folly before God. At one point, God asked Job, “Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?” (40:8) In short, our attempt to justify ourselves leads to the condemnation of God. Indeed, this is what happened when Christ was crucified: we condemned God in our attempt to assert our own righteousness. Ultimately, such wisdom is the peak of folly.
The truly wise are those who fall silent before their Creator. It is in this sense that Romans says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” (Rom. 3:19) Job fell silent, for he knew that his “case” led to the condemnation of God. In like manner, all should fall silent because the human project of self-justification (human “wisdom”) has climaxed with the crucifixion of Christ.
Insofar as we fall silent like Job, we will enter into the sufferings of Christ with docility. We will empty ourselves just as Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” (Philippians 2:7) We will have “the mind of Christ”, which is true wisdom because “no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:11)
To human wisdom, entering the sufferings of the crucified Christ looks only like foolishness and death. However, to those who have the “mind of Christ”, the crucified Jesus of Nazareth is also the risen Lord of all. Denying ourselves and following Him into death, we find our true selves and eternal life. This is because the One that “emptied himself” is the same One that “God also highly exalted.” (Philippians 2:7, 9)
To fall silent before God (to be "dumb" in His presence) is simply the precondition to our hearing of God’s Word. Our silence is not the end, for God continues to speak. And it is in hearing and heeding that “foolish” Word – hearing and heeding Jesus Christ Himself – that we become truly wise.
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