“After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever read something in one place, read something else in another place from a purportedly friendly source, and something about the two accounts didn’t quite sit right? We often see this today in modern politics. One person says one thing and another says something slightly different; different enough that the contradiction is glaring. Generally speaking, people don’t tolerate contradictions very well. Contradictions reveal either duplicity or hypocrisy, or both. This is bad enough when it comes to life in general. It’s even harder when we seem to find them in the Scriptures.
“When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
These are perhaps some of the most unlikely words ever written. God, the eternal creator of the universe, died. On a cross. That’s what it means when it says, “they crucified him.” All modern theories about His perhaps not really dying on the cross to explain away the resurrection aside, when someone was crucified, the end result was their death. Always. But why did it have to be a cross?
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials…” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Years ago I read Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The book was a combination of science fiction and medieval adventure. It should have been an easy sell for a great book. And it did end strong. But it took me just shy of forever to get into it. The beginning was as slow and dry as anything I’ve ever read. Most often, an author starts a book with some kind of compelling, attention-grabber that will get you quickly engaged and hungry for more. Similarly, if you’re going to include something hard in the book, you save that for later after the audience is already engaged with you. Not James. He socks us in the nose from the moment we get started. What are we supposed to do with this?
Yesterday was Easter Sunday. Resurrection Sunday! We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in style at First Baptist Oakboro. I wish you could have been there with us. Using the words of the apostle Paul to the believers in ancient Corinth as our guide, we spent some time reflecting on just why the resurrection is such a big deal. Also, this is running earlier today than it usually does and is in place of the usual Morning Musing. This will be the only post this week. It’s Spring Break in our house and we are enjoying some time away. See you next Monday!
The Resurrection Changes Everything
So, I love Monty Python. That may tell some of you more about me than you wanted to know. Meanwhile, others of you are thinking, “Who’s Monty Python?” Monty Python was a British sketch comedy troupe popular in the 1970s. The most famous member is comedian John Cleese, who has since had a pretty good film career in a whole variety of movies. In addition to several different TV series, they also released a handful of movies. The most well-known of these was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Personally, I’ve watched that one enough times that it’s not very much fun to watch it with me because I say most of the lines right along with the actors all while laughing hysterically. You can borrow my copy if I’ve gotten you curious. In any event, one of their most famous sketches is called “The Spanish Inquisition.” Let me play a little clip of this for you.
“Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Why make such a big deal about the resurrection? Isn’t it enough to simply believe it happened and not worry so much about whether it was a real, historical event? I mean, in a world of modern understandings of life and death, defending the supernatural is no mean feat. Couldn’t we get by simply focusing on the powerful idea of the resurrection? Ever wondered anything like this? Let’s talk about it.
The Nexus 