Dear Members and Friends,
Sometimes, there are things so obvious, that they are very difficult to see. Every now and then we can be extremely familiar with the details of a given situation, without ever noticing the big picture. Considering the essentials of the scriptural accounts, it is often assumed that there is no direct proof of the Resurrection. Yet, I believe there is.
Way back when I was studying World History in a private secular institution, few doubted the reality of the Roman crucifixion of one Jesus of Nazareth. In similar fashion, hardly anyone disputed the fact that at a juncture very near to that “crucial” moment in time, a small band of Jewish men went out proclaiming that this same Jesus had risen from the grave and that he was Lord.
These almost universally accepted points of reference sharpen the focus on the invisible impetus that caused such a dramatic leap from an indescribably awful episode to an incredibly beautiful message. By observing the apostles before Good Friday and after Easter, we can take in quite a glimpse of an admittedly unseen, yet undeniably powerful event that dramatically and permanently influenced their lives. In this rather short period of time, the predictable and probable paths of Peter and his pals dramatically and permanently changed. Thus, even as astronomers can infer the existence of unseen planets by observing their intense gravitational pull on known stars and celestial bodies, we can just as reliably deduce that a most profoundly powerful event impacted the apostles’ personal journey.
Without exception, each of the four Gospels recount in stark and unpleasant detail the incredible denial and disbelief evidenced by all the Apostles, from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Mount of Calvary. Whole sections of each account unfold a consistent and complete abandonment where not only would Jesus’ closest disciples not stay with him, they ran away at high speed. Even after the great announcement by the women returning from the empty tomb, the bible clearly testifies to a collective shudder and yawn on the part of those Jesus had trusted the most.
Yet, we know, both religiously and historically, that soon after they had turned from Jesus upon the cross, these very same quivering followers became the quintessential faithful. Within weeks of being hopeless cowards, they were transformed into a determined band of courageous individuals – willing to die for a message that Jesus had come back to life, and had come back to forgive. With incredible alacrity, they moved from being the fastest from the Garden into being the first to proclaim the Resurrection.
One may, for whatever reason, choose to believe that the Apostles were unanimously overtaken by some mass delusion, or that they concocted a fiction that they were willing to share worldwide, even at the excruciating loss of their own lives. But perhaps the easiest explanation for what really happened between their intense denials and sturdy proclamation, is that those who once vehemently rejected Jesus before he died, actually and directly experienced him after he rose.
Considering what we know historically, let alone theologically, I wonder if it now takes more faith to think that the Resurrection didn’t happen, than to believe that it did! Surely, for those of us today who have encountered the Risen Christ in our hearts, there can be no reasonable doubt.
From Reverend William J. Keane,
Senior Minister of First Baptist Church of Branford
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