The exceptional thing about Jesus is why a routine crucifixion is remembered 2,000 years later. Mark Roberts lists a number of ‘what ifs’ that underscore just how remarkable it is. The list is for the secular side much like the idea that God must exist because the apparent size of the sun and moon just happen to be the same where there is someone to observe it. At his postscript for a stations of the cross series, Roberts notes that “Without the resurrection, the cross of Jesus really wouldn’t matter much.”
The key is the idea of a resurrection. It is usually portrayed as a life given again to a body deemed dead. That is the simple concept and remarkable enough of an event to cause some stir. Then again, recovering life was something Jesus did in curing the ill and he was not alone in being a ‘mystic’ wandering the country performing such miracles in his day. There was something else, something more important, something not so easily made tangible, something that caused people to remember and revere. Resurrection is perhaps not so simple.
Christ has indeed risen. He is in the hearts and minds of his followers and it is those followers who have built the society and culture that has done more than any other in terms of humanity and the ease of suffering. The original sin and the nature of man will always exist but those who follow Jesus know that salvation is possible and they know the direction they need take and the goals to which they should strive.
With Easter, we take note of the event and how it has influenced us so as to carry it forward. There is something exceptional that guides us and we must not forget the path we follow else we become lost.
Post a Comment