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| Resurrection by Magnus 3D |
You see,
the resurrection is actually
Jesus' most offensive act.
+ Searching for Enough
Along with The Deep Down Things by Amber and Seth Haines, Deep Down Faith by Cornelius Planting Jr., The Ache for Meaning by Tommy Brown, and Beholding by Strahan Coleman, Tyler Staton's first book, Searching for Enough, has been a faithful companion during this first quarter of 2024. I actually read Staton's second book, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools first and loved it. And I've loved Searching for Enough as well.
This is the final of 3 posts (the others were "Powerful & Personal Enough Good News" and "A Good Way to Die") in honor of Eastertide (50 days of joy and how Searching for Enough captures some joyful glimpses of Jesus. These posts also complement a previous series entitled "Yeshua" based on Frances Spufford's writings in Unapologetic.
Jesus' Most Offensive Act
If Jesus' resurrection was a metaphor ...
that makes Him a likeable revolutionary. It means we can learn from Him; we can take from His life what might be helpful for ours. We can pick Him over like any other historical figure, admiring Him for His extraordinary character, memorializing the ways He was misunderstood in His time but now, in our more sophisticated, broadly progressive culture and with the benefit of hindsight, we can understand Him properly, accurately gaining insight from Him — a wise sage from another time offering us advice from a rocking chair but not understanding our iPhones, pace of life, or money made of pixels.
If Jesus' resurrection was a metaphor ...
He was a prophet misunderstood in His time — Kurt Cobain with a more profound message. We can remember Him for what He could've been, should've been, if He had been allowed to live a full life. We can take solace in the metaphorical resurrection, meaning His teachings never died and His Spirit lived on in His few followers.
If the resurrection was a metaphor ...
Jesus was a teacher with depth and eloquence far too great for the ears of the common peasants He taught. He had a message to be pondered by the greats, and it was wasted on the uneducated, illiterate simpletons that surrounded Him. He's Will Hunting with no Robin Williams to get Him out of South Boston, so He did the best He could with the Affleck brothers.
A resurrection metaphor ...
makes Jesus a philosopher on par with the likes of Socrates, Plato, Kant, and Kierkegaard. He's pulled something so profound from a left-brained mind, the right brains will teach it in classrooms for centuries to come.
A resurrection metaphor ...
makes Jesus a social justice symbol. Actually, it makes Him the social justice symbol. His life is the one that became the model for Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. to follow. His "resurrection" is the spirit of peaceful protest that has cut a better way through some of the harshest periods of oppression in history. His life is truly a light. His life has been a light in some of the darkest nights of world history — Indian poverty, South African apartheid, American slavery.
A resurrection metaphor ...
is a way of saying that Jesus' virtue lives on, even now, in those He continues to influence, and that makes Jesus a great man. Maybe it even makes Him the greatest man. A great man about whom we have much to admire. A great man we should always remember and never forget. A man so great He was even able to die an unjust death with grace and dignity. This is not an offensive figure, not one about whom people hold polarizing opinions, not one who divides people in "sheep and goats."
Read back through the description above. Who finds there a man they disagree with or oppose?
The theologian William Willimon puts it quite honestly:
I don't need a resurrected Jesus
Come to think of it,
I'm not sure I want
a resurrected Jesus ...
I have the illusion that
I'm in control,
that I am making a so
significant contribution
to help Jesus
that I may be eternal
on my own.
No, I don't need a
bodily resurrected Jesus.
In fact, if I ever get one,
my life would become
much more difficult.
Here's what he's getting at. If Jesus showed us a new way to live and a better way to die, we are left to pick over His life like a swarm of vultures, gnawing at His bones for something of Him we can add to ourselves. A Jesus of life and death is a fantastic addition. To this Jesus, we come with our already full lives, having already decided who we will be, where we will go, what we dream of, and what is needed to accomplish those dreams. We add this Jesus like milk in a cup of coffee — just a splash; there's not much room left, but I'd love to get that nice caramel color.
But an actual resurrection? That requires an empty cup, contents poured out until it's bare ceramic, so it can be filled to overflowing with living water.
You see,
the resurrection is actually
Jesus' most offensive act.
A bodily resurrection means
Jesus isn't a likable revolutionary.
He can't be ...
Gandhi,
Mandela,
MLK
—
none of those men
walked out of their graves.
An actual resurrected Jesus
does not make Him a great man.
It makes Him Lord.
It means He flooded the
recurring darkness with
constant light —
overcame systemic evil,
swallowed up personal failure,
and defeated death.
The parts of life so painful
that the best we can do
is "change the subject" —
He cut a way through.
If Jesus really rose,
we fall on our knees in worship
or stand up in offense because
it means He is either Lord
or thinks He is
(and that's dangerous).
If Jesus really rose,
He is more than a great man
— much more.
He is Lord and God.
That's what led the apostle Paul
to claim that everything hangs
on the resurrection.
If Christ has not been raised,
our preaching is useless and
so is your faith.
+ 1 Corinthians 15:14
The novelist and screenwriter
John Irving repeated the sentiment:
Anyone can be sentimental
about the Nativity;
any fool can feel like a Christian
at Christmas.
But Easter is the main event;
if you don't believe
in the resurrection,
you're not a believer.
Death Has Been Defeated
To believe in the resurrection of is to place the full weight of my hope in the "story of Jesus." It is to acknowledge that at the center of the harsh reality of life, there is a supernatural gap that cannot be closed by my natural means.
A dignifying sort of hope sounds something like this: The universe we inhabit is the very good creation of a very good God who is deeply grieved by the darkness that haunts the lives of His children. This God is so relentless in unwavering hope and pursuing love that He stopped at nothing to heal and redeem us. He promises justice in place of every societal failure, and justice for every last victim. He promises forgiveness to cover over every personal failure, and freedom from the guilt and shame it drags behind. He promises that life, not death, will have the final word because death has once and for all been defeated.
Resurrection means
heaven is coming to earth.
Resurrection hope means
to begin living, even now, in
so that our very lives
become a participation
in the redemption
of the world.
to explain the complex mess
we call the world,
and powerful enough
to redeem every square inch
through love —
the sort of love that
never gives up,
the sort of love that
swallows up fear,
the sort of love that
heals,
however quickly or slowly,
the sort of love that
outlasts the sting of pain.
Only Jesus offers
a picture of love
that is stronger than death.
+ Tyler Straton
in Searching for Enough*,
pgs. 140-143
*If you are intrigued or excited by what you read, purchase Searching for Enough: The Hire-Wire Walk Between Doubt and Faith by Tyler Straton as there is more to be enchanted by in Chapter 11: Recovering the Plot and Chapter 12: A Way to Die than I can include in one post.
Bonus post about Resurrection:
+ Why Jesus' Resurrection Matters
+ Why Jesus' Resurrection Matters
Next post:
May God's Kingdom come, His will be done.
Que le Royaume de Dieu vienne,
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
que sa volonté soit faite.
愿神的国降临，愿神的旨意成就。
Nguyện xin Nước Chúa đến, ý Ngài được nên.
Jesús nuestra Rey, venga Tu reino!
🙏💗🍞🍷👑🌅🌇
With anticipation and joy,
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