This weekend, Miriam and I were asked questions about the Easter Bunny by our son. He’s 95% sure there is no bunny hopping around our house in the middle of the night filling up Easter egg baskets with chocolates and small gifts. We didn’t make a strong case for the bunny either, so I think the magic is beginning to vanish as my kids get older. If the Easter bunny goes, then I’m throwing the tooth fairy under the bus too…she is costing me way too much money!
On Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of Christ. Easter is the climatic moment in the Christian story, but I wonder how many of us struggle to literally embrace the events we just got done celebrating. How is belief in the resurrection any different than a child’s belief in Santa Clause, the Easter bunny, or the dreaded tooth fairy?
There is plenty to read on the events of the resurrection. There are many who argue for it and equal number who argue against it. How do we make room for the possibility of it being miraculously true, and on what grounds to we articulate this belief. The scary question to ask is: what does it mean if it is all one giant myth?
I have always gravitated to the argument that C.S. Lewis presents in his book Mere Christianity, a must read for any Christian who seriously seeks to reconcile the intellectual aspects of putting their faith in Christ. Lewis provides three options for how we can interpret the life, teaching and events (including the resurrection) of Jesus of Nazareth:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . . . Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.” (Mere Christianity)
- He was a liar – translation: he lied about his identity, his power, his love, and his ability to restore our relationship with God.
- He was a lunatic – translation: he was madman, psychopath, sociopath, and narcissist with an end game that had nothing to do with the eternal well-being of his followers.
- He was and is Lord – translation: he was and is who he claimed to be in the scriptures we read today.
Jesus died. Many mourned his death along with their hopes of being saved from oppression. The religious establishment celebrated after squelching the threat to their system of power. Friday rolled into Saturday, Saturday turned into Sunday morning, and the women visitors to his tomb found the rock had been rolled away and Jesus was no where to be found. Had Jesus somehow faked his death? Had the body been stolen? Many arguments have been made to support these two hypothesis, but you will have to read up on these ideas and rebuttals for yourself. The other option remains: Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave resurrected. Yes, a miracle of disbelief, but for those who put their faith in Jesus, it is the only way…it is the only option.
The Apostle Paul puts the resurrection into perspective as one unwilling to mix words:
“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)
Without the resurrection, our faith is as Paul describes “useless” and “futile,” and we are to be “pitied” as people who have been lead astray by a madman who peddles the best fruit punch on the market.
Why do I believe in the resurrected Christ? Because personally, I have not been shown a better option that makes sense. Sure, my belief is based on a miracle, but it is the best option I have found, and now that I have embraced the miracle, I am able to fully give myself to the whole story of redemption and grace. I have a story of following Jesus that spans nearly 30 years. My story cannot be argued, because it is mine. You have a story that includes Jesus or does not, but either way, it is your story, and it too cannot be argued.
For those of us who are able to claim the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives, including his resurrection, we are given access to God the Father, and the blessings he promises: a life of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Offer me another way that promises this way of life and I’ll consider it (as long as it has nothing to do with the tooth fairy!), but until that time, I’ll stick with Jesus and put my faith in the resurrection.
– Joe