| A
redundant resurrection?
by Graeme J. Davidson, 13
February 2002
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There
may be no necessity for Jesus' resurrection as other aspects
of Jesus and the disciples' lives cover the theological
relevance of the resurrection. Yet the events of Easter
Sunday do help reinforce the gospel message.
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Were
the events of Easter Sunday necessary?
For this discussion the physical resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
is not the issue. It is accepted as an historical event. The question
raised is whether anything of unique theological significance
occurred on Easter Sunday that isn't covered by other events described
in the New Testament, especially Good Friday. It will be argued
that there may be no necessity for Jesus' resurrection as other
aspects of Jesus and the disciples' lives cover the theological
relevance of the resurrection. Yet the events of Easter Sunday
do help reinforce the gospel message.
Why
the resurrection is redundant
The New Covenant with its new relationship with God for all who
seek forgiveness of sin through faith was 'signed' into effect
and validated at the crucifixion through God's sacrifice of his
son's body and an offering for sin (see the Letter to the Hebrews)
and his blood (through which the New Covenant is sealed). Because
the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost and has
remained with the Church ever since, we are assured of the Holy
Spirit's presence. And as we do not rise from the grave in the
same physical manner or in the kind of timeframe that Jesus did,
then, unless any other reason can be given for why the resurrection
occurred, the resurrection could be superfluous. It may serve
as a dramatic parable or metaphor for how we die to sin and can
live a new life with God, but this is implicit in the events of
Good Friday.
Theological
claims for the resurrection and rebuttals
Claim
1
The resurrection validates the nature of the sacrifice needed
to bring in the New Covenant. Without the resurrection, Jesus
could have been anyone making claims about himself and his mission.
It is the ultimate confirmation of Jesus' claim to be 'one with
the Father' — the Word incarnate that came to dwell among
us — as only God has the power to raise people from the dead.
Apart from the heavenly assumption of Moses and Elijah (whom the
gospels report appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration), it
is a unique event and substantive proof of the divine nature of
Jesus and of his ability to intercede with God on our behalf.
Rebuttal
It was not the resurrection but God's sacrifice of himself on
the cross that instigates the New Covenant of the forgiveness
of sins (see Jeremiah 31-33ff). God has offered himself as the
ultimate sacrifice to free us from our obsession with sin and
estrangement from God. We are assured of our redemption by the
grace of God's boundless love despite our continual human failings.
The gospels tell us that Jesus chided the disbelieving Jews for
not accepting what he taught about his relationship with the Father
and implored them to believe because of the works that he did
among them. These comments could also apply to us through our
experience of how others are transformed through the advent of
the New Covenant and the reconciling love that brings to their
lives. In this sense Jesus' death acts to 'intercede' for us with
God for it is through his sacrifice that we are able to come into
a reconciling relationship with God.
Claim 2
The
empty tomb and reappearance of Jesus reassured the disciples,
especially Doubting Thomas, and turned their grief into triumph.
Without this triumph they would not have had the impetus to continue
with the gospel mission or may have idolatrously worshiped at
the tomb where his body was laid.
Rebuttal
The triumph of the enpowerment of the infant Church at Pentecost
and the actions of the Holy Spirit since Pentecost overshadow
the resurrection, raising the question of why the resurrection.
Even after the resurrection the disciples feared reprisals because
of their association with Jesus. It was the experience of Pentecost
that changed that.
St. Paul found
when he addressed the Athenians, many who would otherwise have
embraced Christianity found the concept of Jesus' physical resurrection
a stumbling block to belief. They considered they had been asked
to swallow the proverbial intellectual camel. The ultimate proof
of God's having come among us is not the empty tomb but the way
in which followers ever since the crucifixion experience the effectiveness
of the New Covenant through his forgiving love. That is the triumph
of Jesus' death and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
With or without
Jesus' body, there was and still is the potential for the idolatry
of Christian relics — including the possible site of the
empty tomb.
Claim
3
Jesus' resurrection is the archetype of our own resurrection.
In the same way in which Jesus rose from the dead to be with the
Father, we are assured of how we can in some way survive our physical
death to be with him. Jesus said that he was the resurrection
and the life and if someone dies they will have life if they have
faith in him. It is the evidence of God's continual love for us
and our own immortality. St Paul emphasises this when he affirms
that nothing, including death, separates us from the love of God.
He also maintains that if Christ did not rise from the dead, our
faith is in vain as his rising from the dead robs the grave of
its victory and affirms our hope of meeting God face to face in
all his glory.
Rebuttal
If we survive our own deaths, we do not do so in the same manner
of Jesus. Even, Lazarus, who was dead four days and caused a stench,
was resurrected by Jesus to die again. The gospels describe how
Jesus survived his death and entombment in the same physical form
in which he died — complete with the recent wounds of his
crucifixion. His tomb was empty whereas our tombs and cremated
bodies degenerate into dust and ashes.
In his First
Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, St. Paul argues that we
receive new bodies when we die. This emphasises that we do not
rise from the dead as Jesus did. It also raises serious logical
difficulties as to how we can maintain our personal identities
if we do not exist in something akin to our present form. Even
if the contentious notion of an immortal soul is accepted, the
flight of the soul (our spiritual 'essence') from our bodies at
the moment of death is an incomplete resurrection when compared
with that of Jesus. His resurrection was of the complete person
— body and soul.
Another form
of Christian belief in life after death, is of our bodily resurrection
and accountability to God at a future cataclysmic Armageddon.
This view is supported by biblical warnings of an Armageddon,
the resurrection on the 'last day', the parable in Matthew's Gospel
of the separation between the righteous sheep and unrighteous
goats, and the disciples' expectation of Jesus' eminent return
after his ascension (parousia).
This raises
questions of how, why and when the Armageddon will happen and
why the Disciples were mistaken in their expectation of Jesus'
imminent eschatological return. It is possible that the parousia
happened at Pentecost and that the Armageddon was the sack of
Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD. Whatever the explanation, it
is logically conceivable that we could be resurrected in bodily
form at a future time. Yet it is difficult to see how this relates
to Jesus' resurrection and divine judgment as he did not divide
people into the righteous or non-righteous after his resurrection.
When Jesus said that he was the resurrection and the life before
resuscitating the dead Lazarus, he was referring to how he was
offering a new relationship and life with God and the resurrection
of Lazarus demonstrates that he has the power to bring about that
new relationship.
It is often
claimed that if the resurrection isn't a pointer to our own post-physical
life with God, or of divine justice in the after life, then there
is no future hope and Christianity loses its appeal. This is a
question of Christian motivation and this should be for the love
of God and a desire to do his will, rather than looking towards
a life after death or of accruing bonus rewards for that future
state of existence.
Claim
4
The resurrection is the definitive metaphor of how our sins are
dead and buried with Jesus' death and burial. As God resurrected
Jesus to a new life we too are redeemed and 'resurrected' to a
new life in God. Jesus' dying and rising from the dead is an essential
paradigm for our own relationship with God. It is analogous to
the experience we can have of dying to the old life of sin and
rising to a new life of love with God. According to St. Paul,
our sins are dead and buried with Christ and through him we are
raised to a new life of faith.
Rebuttal
Wiping the whiteboard clean and starting a new life with God through
his grace is portrayed in many ways throughout the New Testament:
John's baptising the repentant as a sign of God's washing away
their sins, Jesus' comment to Nicodemus about being born again
in the spirit, the parable of the Prodigal Son and Jesus' association
with and parables and miracles aimed at giving new life and hope
to the recognised 'sinners' of the time, such as the blind, lame
and those of ill repute. Jesus' death during Passover, which celebrates
the Jews escape from bondage and death in Egypt to return to a
better life in the Promised Land, is also a powerful symbol of
how Jesus' sacrifice on the cross enables all who have faith to
escape from the bondage of sin and have a free and better relationship
with God.
Claim
5
The
Godhead would be incomplete and imperfect if one person of the
Trinity was left in a tomb in Palestine. Jesus needed to be raised
from the dead so that he could 'ascend' to the 'right hand' of
the Father and then 'descend' in the form of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost to inspire and direct his Church. Jesus also needed
the time between the resurrection and Pentecost to issue instructions
to the disciples.
Rebuttal
Jesus' mission was complete when he uttered, 'It is finished',
and gave his 'spirit' to God on the cross. Most of Jesus' instructions
are given prior to his death and there are few instructions after
the resurrection that are not a reiteration of his earlier teachings.
The uncertain infant Church receives its strength and revitalisation
through the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. A resurrection and ascension
are not necessary for the Holy Spirit to descend. The Holy Spirit
descended upon Jesus at his baptism before there was any prior
ascension. The same could have equally been the case at Pentecost.
Conclusion
Jesus warned his bewildered disciples of his upcoming death and
resurrection. If he had remained in the tomb, his credibility
would have been impaired. But this begs the question of why the
resurrection was needed — especially as Jesus alludes to
how those who do not listen are unlikely to be convinced if someone
were to rise from the dead.
The theological
import of the New Covenant is repeatedly emphasised through Jesus'
life and works. Old Testament expectations are fulfilled —
the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy
are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news
is preached to the poor. The parables and miracles all point to
the gospel message of the New Covenant — salvation through
God's forgiving love. The dramatic events of the resurrection
are a further reinforcement of this gospel message.
What is it
that preachers say on Easter Sunday that they couldn't have said
about the events of Good Friday? The answer is that they are offering
much the same sermon, only with more enthusiasm and joy.
Easter is
about salvation and that can be explained without reference to
a resurrected Jesus. The Letter to the Hebrews, for example, discusses
the theological implications of Jesus' death, but not his resurrection.
However, the resurrection does provide another metaphor of our
rising to a new life in God and in that way the Easter Lily becomes
a gilded lily.
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