Pastor's Page: May 15, 2011
The Resurrection - An Event Outside Space And Time
No one saw the resurrection. The disciples did experience the Risen Christ when the Lord appeared
to them gloriously and mysteriously transformed. But no one saw the resurrection itself. The
transformation of Christ from a crucified dead man buried in the tomb, to the triumphant Jesus
experienced in the resurrection narratives, does not belong to our "space-time" dimension. It is an
event unseen and trans-historical. As human beings we cannot understand it on the basis of the
experiences which we already have.
An empty tomb does not tell us about the Risen Christ, gloriously triumphant over death. All that
we can say is that something happened, a brilliant and dazzling illumination, an encounter and
sacrament that so impacted the followers of Jesus that they moved rapidly from depression and grief at
the place of crucifixion and entombment, to ecstatic joy.
The proof of the resurrection is in the dramatic change of the eyewitnesses. They were not
expecting what occurred. Quite the opposite is true. The eyewitnesses claim that Jesus of Nazareth
appeared to them on numerous occasions no longer contained by our space-time continuum. They
came to understand that God had acted definitively in Jesus to make clear that God's love has burst
forth in the universe, and death has no more power over us. We are destined for the same glory that the
Risen Christ revealed, a joy that no one can ever take from us.
"For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the Scriptures; that he appeared to Kephas (Peter), then to the Twelve. After that,
he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some
have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one
born abnormally, he appeared to me." (1 Corinthians 15. 3-8)
Belief in the victory of Christ allows us to say in our creed: "We believe in the resurrection of
the body, and life everlasting."
The Risen Lord assures us that death is not the end but a bright new beginning that far exceeds
anything we can ask or hope for.
One day we will disappear into God, and come to know as if for the first time, the inconceivable
wonder of God's love.
Peace and love,
Father Bruce
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