“Story telling was at the center of the beginnings of the Jesus movement.  And I think we're right to call it the Jesus movement here because if we think of it as Christianity, that is, from the perspective of the kind of movement and institutional religion that it would become a few hundred years later, we will miss the flavor of those earliest years of the kind of crude and rough beginnings, the small enclaves trying to keep the memory alive, and more than that, trying to understand what this Jesus meant for them.”  This statement begins an article dealing with oral tradition and religion specifically speaking about the rise of Christianity and the resurrection story.  I was asked after my Easter article if we could trust the Gospel accounts given that they were written so long after the event.

I believe the answer is yes and I want to share the thoughts of others on this question and end with my own.  At the time of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, the common method of sharing an event was through oral repetition of the story as shared by direct witnesses.  The common people of the era were typically illiterate and, therefore, the only means for most to share was through the spoken word.  Such is the case of the sharing of the events of the death and resurrection of Jesus.  It was shared from person to person and generation to generation as the teachings of the Pentateuch had been in Israel until the writing of the text in a later era.

We cannot understand the necessity of oral traditions and of the carrying of important facts through spoken word in our instant society that even allows us to speak words into our smart phones and create a written record.  I believe this ability has decreased how we view the importance of the spoken word and come to see it as
temporary and unreliable.  However, imagine how carefully we would be with spoken word if we did not have this ability.  For example, in Alex Haley’s book Roots, we find Haley going to Africa to hear of his family, the story of Kunta Kinte.  He is told the family storyteller will arrive and retell the history of his family.  Haley asks him to go to a certain part of the story only to be told the story can only be told from the beginning, apparently to assure accuracy.  We forget there are others for which the accuracy of the spoken word is essential to life and is for them reliable.

Let us look beyond my basic assumption that spoken language in certain societies is key to their transmission of information and is reliable to the specific topic at hand.  N.T. Wright, theologian and professor at the University of Scotland, tells us, “There is no form of early Christianity known to us that does not affirm that after Jesus’ shameful death, God raised him to life again.”  Wright holds the most widely held belief affirming that resurrection is the central tenant of the early church.  Likewise, Paul writes,  “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.”  The event of the resurrection was the central focus of early Christians, it was the confirmation of who Jesus was; it was the event, which lead them to understand the life and teaching of Jesus as Messiah.

Third, we need to look at the Biblical statements of the presence of the resurrected Jesus in the world.  In 1 Corinthians 15:6 Paul writes that Jesus appeared to over five hundred believers and that most of them are still alive.  I realize we can claim an apparition based on the desire of the believers to hold on to Jesus but the number Paul states and the fact that many are still alive indicates there was a commonly held belief among persons who not only heard of the event but also were witnesses to the event.  If there were any way, in which the ruling authority could have refuted and ended the telling of the event, surely they would have done so in order to destroy this subversive group that was drawing away its followers to a new understanding of God.

Fourth, let us examine human nature.  Would you be willing to die for a lie?  Would you continue to put forth a lie even though it caused you to become a political and religious enemy to the ruling powers of your culture and world?  Chuck Colson, one of the Watergate conspirators, tells us that Watergate proves the resurrection.  He says, “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me.  How?  Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it.  Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned, and put in prison.  They would not have endured that if it weren't true.  Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world—and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks.  You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years?  Absolutely impossible.”  These twelve unlearned common men, former fisherman lived and died to share the message of the resurrection.  I agree with Colson, even intelligent men with great power cannot keep a lie quiet for very long and certainly given the choice of being beaten and dying or recanting the story, they would have recanted, often this happens even if the story is true.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, is our own individual decision.  Regardless of the evidence, we each make decisions daily as to what we will and will not accept as credible evidence of events.  We can be presented with irrefutable facts on any number of events or possible future events and choose not to believe the evidence...instead choosing to believe the stories that whirl around us attempting to sway us to a side of the argument.  Currently, we are dealing with the issues of immigration, climate change, abortion, marriage, vaccination of children, and many others.  On these issues, the facts are rarely what causes us to choose which side we will support; rather our own hearing and emotional or spiritual understanding sway us to one side or the other.  We are people who are often carried along more by our own desires and thoughts than by factual evidence.  Ultimately, each of us has to decide whether to believe in the actual bodily resurrection of Jesus.  We are presented with facts, arguments and counter facts and arguments, yet we have to decide what is real for us.

As for me, I have chosen to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus as presented in the Gospels and recounted by Paul.  I find comfort and hope in the resurrection.  I trust that God is able to raise all people.  Is it possible I am wrong?  Of course it is, but, I still choose to believe.
 
I will leave you with the words of Joshua 24:14-15, “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  Now, if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
 
  Wayne Cook
 
 
(White 1998)
(Wright 2016)
(New Revised Standard Version Bible 1989)
(Always Be Ready n.d.)
(New Revised Standard Version Bible 1989)

Fear is a powerful motivator; it causes us to change the way we see the world and our neighbor. In Revelation 6:9, the fifth seal is broken and the martyrs of the world are revealed. They, like us, are still so human and cry out to God for revenge. I know that when I live in fear I too want revenge for the wrongs that I perceive I have suffered. God's response is to give them white robes and tell them to rest until all who would be martyred have joined them. My human nature says this is the voice of a parent just making promises to a child just to quiet them; but the Spirit reminds me that God is faithful and his word is sure. We want to make sure we are revenged. God says wait. God says rest. I am often amazed at life and how out of balance it seems; people are massacred, children massacred at their schools, older persons massacred in a Bible study and yet God says wait, rest. We truly do not get it. This vision of the martyrs in heaven, under the throne, shows us those who have served and died in their service of God. They receive honor at the foot of His throne with the white robe and rest. They have died so that the Gospel would go forward.

We are afraid we will die and yet God calls us to come and die every day to our ego and our clinging to this life. We hear in Luke, we are to give our life away in order to save it. We live in a world full of fear and anger a world that is seeking to use these emotions to take us away from God. They keep us from serving because of what might happen to us, making us ineffective in the spreading of the gospel. God tells us to rest our cares in His grace and to serve in this world without fear for our lives. We are to be bold in this life each day living without fear because of the promise we have received. Let us be bold in service and speech, offering grace to the broken and downtrodden, setting the captives free and declaring the year of the Lord’s favor. (Isaiah 61) The evil one will threaten us and may even destroy us but we are secure in our salvation through the work of Christ in the world.

Easter is over and we return to our everyday world, but because Easter happened, that world has changed.  Jesus’ resurrection fills the world with new possibilities if we are willing to see them.  As Sophia from Golden Girls would say, “Picture it:  Israel 33AD.”  The apostles are gathered in a closed room, hiding in fear from the authorities, wondering if they will come after them next.  They tremble at every creak and noise; they are terrified!  They are certain the authorities know they are Jesus’ followers and are certain some group will be looking for them to put an end to the whole Jesus affair.

How often do we live in fear someone will find out what we have done or who we really are and punish us?  We live in fear.  Now, some fear is a good thing, but to live constantly in fear is not.  The disciples were in that room feeling it was all over, then something amazing happened that changed their minds and their lives forever.  As they sat in that room, Jesus suddenly appeared among them!  Can you imagine sitting there when suddenly the person you believe to be dead appears in the room without coming through the door?  I have no words for how I imagine that would feel.  Jesus knew how they felt.  His first words to them were “Peace be with you.” (John 20:21 NRSV)  Before giving instructions or breathing on them and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit, he says “Peace, be with you.”  Jesus knows what they need; they need their fears calmed and peace to be in their hearts and minds, so they can accept the new reality and begin the next phase of their journey.

Jesus still calls to us today – “Peace be with you.”  He knows that before we can be effective for the kingdom, we need to be at peace.  We need His peace to fill us and to calm our hearts, our minds, and our lives.  We cannot serve God while we are still living in the angst of what is happening or of what might happen.  I have been privileged to know many people who have that peace in their lives and to witness the way in which they share the Gospel with a quiet calm spirit that reaches out to others.  We need that spirit of peace in our lives today perhaps more than ever.  As I watch the news and read newspaper and magazine articles, I find it is easy to be overcome by all the evil in our world, to be jaded by our political and social divisions that cause more fear, anger, and hatred to be expressed openly and loudly.  I wonder if this is all a part of the plan of what scripture calls the prince of power of the air to so burden our minds and keep us from focusing on the resurrection of Jesus, which promises us that death and the grave have been overcome.  In the resurrection, Jesus shows us His power over all things and beings and that He is in control even when it seems otherwise.  It is difficult for us to see and understand when we are surrounded by so much brokenness, sorrow, division, and evil, but imagine how difficult it was for those who were locked away in that room in fear of the people who had crucified Jesus.  The fear we feel is not new it is as old as time and it is based on the lie that evil is in charge and has the power to control everything.  Evil may win for a time but ultimately Jesus is the victor.

I pray we can focus our hearts and minds on that ultimate victory; that we can hold the resurrection promise in our lives and trust in the grace of God to lead us forward boldly to share the word of God.  We may die in the process but we are promised that death has been overcome and we too will be resurrected in perfection.  May the promise of Easter live in our hearts today and always.

Hallelujah!  He is risen!