Resurrection!

Sermon Easter Day Year B 

It’s wonderful isn’t it …that two thousand years later
people are still arguing about the resurrection of Jesus. It was in the news this week…
I’ll bet we could get into a hum dinger of a debate going this morning about it…

But did you know in Jesus’ day…Jewish factions argued all the time about…
resurrection...
the Sadducees who controlled the Temple… just didn’t believe in it…
and the Pharisees did.

But theirs wasn’t a debate about… what happens after people die…no…it was about…
whether there’d be a final resurrection on the day of judgment…
when God would remake the world...
and give his people… new… resurrected bodies’[i]  

Until then… most Jews had faith that God would look after their spirits when they died...

You see right through Jewish history… the Hebrew word for resurrection is… 

reserved …used only to refer to the new bodily life… which is to come… 

for all the righteous
at the end of days… And it’s clear from the Hebrew scriptures...
most Jews looked forward to it…

What happens right after we die…was considered to be just the first stage...
of a two stage process.  

And when Jesus lived…most pagans and Jews…
believed in the first stage...in some kind of continuing existence after death...but some 

like the Sadducees… completely rejected…an end of days resurrection for everyone[ii]

And it’s clear from the songs and stories and poetry of the first century that everyone 

had heard about ghosts, and spirits, and visions and hallucinations...and they knew 

these apparitions weren’t about bodies the way you and I have a body.

And when the Jews debated about resurrection…
they were talking about bodies...not ghosts or spirits.
Like when King Herod getss paranoid about Jesus being John the Baptist raised 

from the dead. Herod certainly isn’t saying he thinks… Jesus is a ghost.

And we can hear echoes of this in Martha’s conversation with Jesus…
about the resurrection of the last days. Or when the Sadducees try to trick Jesus…
about who’s going to be married to whom…in the resurrection to come.

And Jesus’ opinion…is consistent with this…because he talks about the resurrection…

as an event sometime in the future... when all the righteous will be raised... [pause]

And that’s why… when Jesus predicts his own death...and that he’d be raised again
three days later…his disciples don’t understand what he’s talking about...because it’s inconceivable

They never imagined resurrection could happen…
to just one person... ahead of everyone else.
And the Messiah wasn’t supposed to die anyway.

Of course all this… is why Jesus’ death on the cross...
is devastating for them and destroys their hopes and dreams.[iii] 

Standing at the foot of the Cross…from the disciples point of view...Jesus crucifixion
means the hoped for kingdom of God … hasn’t come…and Jesus… can’t be the
Messiah 

Standing at the foot of the Cross…Jesus followers don’t dream of saying...

‘Oh, she’ll be right…Jesus has to die to save us...
but in a few days… he’ll be back just you wait and see.[iv]  

On the contrary... the two days after the crucifixion...
are the darkest days of their lives…
as far as the disciples are concerned...end-of-story.

But the story isn’t over...because something happens...

that causes the first Christians…to reform the Jewish understanding of resurrection…
in seven surprising new ways. [pause]

According to Tom Wright… the first thing that was different about the disciples understanding
of resurrection... is that…when they announce Jesus has risen from the dead,
they mean something happened to Jesus…
that had never happened...to anyone else.[v]

...something no one ever expected to happen...

Number two...resurrection moves…
from a debatable religious idea in Judaism ...
to the very centre of the faith… of the first Christians.

Belief in Jesus’ bodily resurrection ...is held so strongly by the first Christians…
many are prepared to die for it…
as martyrs in the arenas of Rome.

Third…the first Christians are clear...that while Jesus’ resurrected body... 

is somehow new, transformed, and incorruptible...it’s still a real body...the risen Christ
isn’t some disembodied spirit …ghost or hallucination...

And fourthly...before Easter... no first century Jew…
expected the resurrection to be anything but a sudden
large-scale event...that happens to all God’s people[vi]  

But after Easter...
Christians believe the resurrection has happened…
to one person.. in the middle of history...

before and guaranteeing… the great final resurrection.[vii]

the fifth redefinition of resurrection…
proceeds logically from this...because if resurrection begins with Jesus...then…
in anticipation of the final resurrection…when  God will make all things new
Jesus followers…are called to continue his work…
in all their personal and political relationships...[viii]

As followers of Jesus they were ...and we are…
charged with transforming our present world…

in light of the future hope…ignited by Jesus’ resurrection.

The Sixth overhaul of Jewish understanding…is politically fascinating...

before Jesus...the resurrection is often used by the Jews
as a metaphor for the restoration of Israel
as a people and a nation

but from the earliest days in Christianity...

that meaning completely disappears....

By the time Paul’s letters are written...
the resurrection is tied to the sacrament of baptism…
as a metaphor for dying and rising with Christ...

in baptism...resurrection becomes the symbol of a new life… of obedience to Christ..
in bringing Gods will on earth. [pause]

And the seventh and final Christian reshaping of resurrection... links it for the first time
in religious history...with the Messiah In all previous Jewish writing...

no one ever debated…
would the Messiah rise from the dead?...
because no one expected the Messiah to die!

Jewish texts… promised a Messiah
who’d fight God’s victorious battle against the wicked pagans
rebuild and cleanse the Temple...and bring God’s justice
to the world.  

But Jesus does none of these things during his ministry ...instead......Jesus suffers injustice... wreaks havoc at the Temple and dies at the hand of the pagans. 

Jesus does none of the things the promised Messiah is supposed to do..

.but from very early on...his Jewish followers proclaim for all to hear…

that Jesus is indeed the Messiah…
precisely because of his resurrection.

There had never been a story like it... Oh yeah there were Messianic pretenders
before Jesus and since… their movements were a dime a dozen. And…
often these movements ended with the violent death of their leader...

But their followers believe they were resting with God...
they do not understand them to be resurrected...

because as far as they’re concerned… that’s only going to happen… 

to all of them together ...
at the end of days... 

even though the gospel accounts differ... something happened to convince the first Christians…to make Jesus’ bodily resurrection...the very centre of their faith...

as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to annoint Jesus body in the tomb… 

something happens.... something so compelling … it transforms… a quivering, terrified, defeated, and depressed… band of mourners…
some scared stiff even to be identified with Jesus…

something so undeniable happens…

it turns broken men and women...into courageous campaigners throughout the Roman Empire…who proclaim Jesus saving message of Shalom...for all to hear

something inspires them to go any distance, and face any danger…even death...
for what they believe...[pause]

I love Easter... because it gives me the opportunity...

to tell you...what I hold to be true in my heart...

that nothing... but a face to face… touch to touch encounter...

with the resurrected Christ…nothing else... would or could explain...

the transformation of
the cowards of Gethsemane…

into the heroes of Pentecost…

may your faith also be strengthen and transformed...He is risen indeed.

Let us reflect on this as Kirsten and Taylor sing…You raise me up

---

[i] ibid.

[ii] Wright, NT. Surprised by hope – Rethinking heaven, the resurrection and the mission of the church, Harper, NY. 2008.  37

[iii] ibid.

[iv] ibid 39

[v] ibid.  37

[vi] ibid 45

[vii] ibid.

[viii] Ibid 46.

Breaking the Seal

Easter year C Sermon

With nagging persistence and political cunning…
the Jewish Temple authorities persuade
the Roman governor…to play the final card…

It’s illegal for the Jewish courts to execute anyone…

and the religious establishment wants Jesus dead …wants the upstart pretender to the throne of David eliminated…what’s needed is a display…
of the absolute power of the Roman Empire …
to execute criminals by crucifixion.

Since this Jesus continues to claim a higher authority he needs to find out what…unlimited power actually is … defy it and it can just have you killed… challenge it and you will die…the end…that’s all she wrote…

And so Jesus receives the highest penalty Rome can dish out…. [pause]

But killing him isn’t enough…Matthew’s account tells us… the chief priests and the Pharisees are going to leave nothing to chance…even with him dead… everyone’s heard the insane rumours that Jesus thought he’d come back after three days… if he were killed…

Something has to be done… to stop Jesus’ followers from stealing his body and telling everyone he’s been raised from the dead. That sleight of hand would be the last straw…

…and so as the sun rises on day two…the chief priests and the Pharisees…demand the Roman governor officially seal the tomb under tight security.

A boulder displaying the Roman Seal …
weighing maybe one and a half… maybe two tons…
is rolled across the entrance…and guards are posted.

To tamper with a Roman Seal was punishable by death.

And morning dawns on the third day… [pause]

The horrible and humiliating death of their leader has dealt a shattering blow to the faith of Jesus’ followers and family. They’d actually started to believe he was the anointed one of God… the Messiah who’s save Israel from its oppressors once and for all…

Now they’re thrown into a spiritual and emotional crisis… deep and agonizing they are gutted…and all their hope destroyed…

Just three days into their grief…the women who arrive at the tomb aren’t expecting anything to have changed…they’re bringing spices to ward away the smell of death.

Traveling with Jesus…they hadn’t known what to make of his reference to rising again. At that time in Jewish history… resurrection for all the faithful … was what God would do at the end time… giving a new body…to everyone from their ancestor Abraham on down through time. Resurrection was always going to happen on a grand scale…

and only after Israel’s great and final suffering. [pause]

Resurrection’s definitely not on their minds as the women approach the tomb on the third day. So when they find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty…they have absolutely no idea what’s going on…

What they were certain of… is that Jesus really died …there was no doubt about that. The Romans were grimly efficient with their crucifixions… no one survived…even the 39 lashes of the flagrum Jesus endured… were enough to kill some people…

A seven inch spike through both heel bones…and in the wrists…the suffering…the suffocation…

[pause]

And after he died…these women had watched…as the hope of Israel…was laid to rest in the tomb…they would’ve given anything for a sign of life…

So it’s not at all surprising … how terrified and bewildered they are to find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty…in Luke’s version they’re dazed and confused…yet as that third day unfold the unimaginable and inconceivable starts to happen.

And over the next forty days… whole crowds of allegedly sane rational human beings…reported speaking with Jesus…walking with Jesus…sharing food with Jesus and being blessed by Jesus… People touched him and were touched by him…

Jesus was seen…individual people weren't reporting visions or subjective spiritual experiences…whole groups of people were encountering Jesus together.

[pause]

And somehow Jesus followers emerged from the
spirit-crushing events of the crucifixion…and went on to proclaim the resurrection and divinity…of the one who was crucified dead and buried.

And the movement they founded…and the church they founded for all its weaknesses and flaws is still gathering … even here beneath these mountains and beside these lakes…at the ends of the earth. [pause…………]

What could be so compelling… to change a quivering terrified… defeated…despairing band of mourners… …some scared stiff even to be linked to Jesus…

What could be so convincing… to turn these frightened hopeless emotional wrecks into courageous messengers … ready to travel any distance and face any danger… for the sake of Jesus’ cause. [pause]

It is my belief…that nothing… but a face to face…skin to skin…breath to breath encounter…with the risen Christ…will or can explain… the transformation of the cowards of Gethsemane…into the heroes of Pentecost…

I believe nothing else… but meeting the risen Christ… could galvanize that cringing bunch…who stood back in the shadows even denying him… as the soldiers led Jesus away…

Oh…but maybe the da Vinci code is right and Jesus didn’t really die after all…maybe he just lapsed into a coma …and then revived.

Maybe despite the flagellation and the loss of blood…the spikes…the spear in his side…and the tight binding of the grave clothes…maybe Jesus came to… pushed the boulder away from the inside… overcame the guards… in urgent need of medical attention then walked or crawled on pierced feet and hands…to collapse at the door of his followers

Why would they proclaim him to be the conqueror of death… and Prince of Life…Emanuel…God with us. [pause]

And yet after that third day…there was a dramatic change in Jesus friends …[pause]

I still see this transformation today in the lives of people who name Jesus as the one they follow. Naming him not as just a great role model from the distant past…
but as the one they encounter today…the one who is there.
…the one who gives us strength and courage…
in the face of ridicule betrayal and persecution…

The one who convinces us to act justly and compassionately toward those who hate us…to show mercy to those who hurt us…

The one who teaches that revenge and retaliation will never lead to peace…but that evil will be overcome with love.

The one who enters time and space… to reveal God’s purposes of reconciliation and re-creation for all humanity… simply can’t be stopped… by the worst humanity can do. Because God’s love is stronger than even death.