Resurrecting the Resurrection
1
Corinthians 15: 12-26
But think about it. Resurrection of the body. It has only
happened twice. Lazarus was the first. Jesus’ great personal friend died. Jesus
wasn’t but half a day away and knew of his death. But Jesus waited several days
to show up. He wanted to make a point. He wanted people to understand that even
death cannot defeat the power of God. So Jesus waited until the body of Lazarus
had begun to do what dead bodies do. Then, he acted. And a dead man walked out
of his tomb, alive again.
The other time was Jesus himself. He promised he would, and
he did. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day
just as he had predicted. Everything in the Scriptures indicates that he had the
same body he died with. But after the resurrection, it appeared to be
transformed in some way we cannot define. For instance, Jesus told Mary
Magdalene not to touch him, as he had not yet ascended. But later, he let others touch him. He ate. He drank. He showed off the holes in
his wrists.
The gospel accounts and Acts testify to a number of
post-resurrection encounters with Jesus. In today’s passage from 1 Corinthians,
Paul begins the chapter by referencing six different appearances of Jesus to
others after his resurrection. One of them is to Paul himself about three years
after Jesus had ascended to heaven. The others are before the ascension. And Paul’s
account doesn’t mention every incident. For instance, he doesn’t speak of
Jesus’ appearance to the women at the tomb.
So there are eyewitnesses. In courts of law then and now,
two or more eyewitnesses were considered reliable evidence. Paul recites
multiple instances and hundreds of people who saw that indeed, Jesus was resurrected. Paul, is doing
nothing more than reciting the facts.
And yet, people today don’t believe. People then didn’t believe. Why? Why
didn’t they believe? There were eyewitnesses. Paul even used himself as a
witness. Fully three years after the resurrection, Paul testifies to us that he
has a physical encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw the risen
Lord. It was life changing.
Why do people not believe? Maybe in part because the whole thing just
defies our ability to conceive of it. He rose, not just in spirit, but in body!
He was dead. No one really questions the historical account that Jesus lived or
that he died and died of crucifixion. Many more, probably including the
Corinthians to whom Paul was writing, believed that Jesus rose in Spirit. But not
bodily! Come on!
But he did. Christ died for our sins in accordance with
the Scriptures. He was buried, and was raised on the third day in accordance
with the Scriptures. He made many appearances to people after his resurrection.
This is what Paul tells those at the church in Corinth who do not believe in a
bodily resurrection.
Much of Greek lore and philosophy had contempt for the body. They longed
for the day when their eternal soul could be liberated from the crassness of
the flesh. In contrast, Paul pointed out that it wasn’t just Christ’s soul that
left the grave, but his body as well!
We live in a world of technology. We are digitalized. We want more pixels
and gigabytes. We want everything proved empirically. If Jesus came now, he
could instagram his way into Corinth and
Paul could have stayed home. We could all have seen the crucifixion on YouTube
as someone’s cell phone coverage went virile. But Jesus chose to come onto our
stage in a pre-gadget age. And even without all those technological enhancements,
the story of Jesus has pervaded the society of man for two millenniums and
still counting. Jesus died and was buried and
was raised. Apparently, the Christians in Corinth were hung up on the
concept of bodily resurrection. They may have favored the Greek idea that the
body stayed behind; that only the spirit was pure.
Why not? I mean, a spiritual
resurrection gets the job done, doesn’t it? It’s a resurrection of our essence.
Isn’t that the point?
No, it isn’t! And the great apostle spends the entire passage hammering
home how important it is that Christ rose bodily from the dead! He defeated
death! The grave could not hold him. Some of the Corinthian Christians were
stuck in their perception of corpses rising from graves like the zombies of our
TV programs. They couldn’t see that the body and soul are tied forever to one
another and that the essence of who we are, what makes us individuals, what
identifies us, is body and soul woven together. Paul is not talking about
ghouls and goonies. That’s the stuff of entertainment. He is talking about all
that makes up a person, an individual, a creation from God: body, soul and personality,
but cast in a resurrected presence. It will be the new, improved model, a model
made for eternity, but with personal monogramming.
The resurrection. It is not an
optional belief. It is fundamental to understanding the work of Christ. It is
the centerpiece of Christianity. Without the resurrection, nothing else
matters. Without the resurrection, Christianity becomes another ethical model
of gracious living with no outcome other than a nice life. But the resurrection
is not a life model. It is the way to life!
Verses 12-18 are a litany of counter facts. If this, then that.
*If Christ is proclaimed raised from the
dead, how can you say there is no resurrection?
*If there is no resurrection, then not
even Christ has been raised.
*If Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
*If the dead are not raised, not even
Christ has been raised.
*If Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
*If in Christ we have hope in this life
only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
What a chilling conclusion. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people
most to be pitied. But it is not for this life only. Paul says forget the counter
facts, because they are not true. What is true is this: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…in Christ shall all be made
alive…Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.”
A seed is planted in
the ground by a caring farmer. The seed is planted in good soil and is cared
for and watered. The heat of the sun nourishes it. The seed dies. It is a
necessary act that must precede the life that is to come. The death of the seed
allows the plant to germinate. The result is a plant, transformed by the
sacrifice of the seed into something alive and vital and beautiful. From the death
of one comes the life of so many in new and splendid bodies. What a metaphor
for Easter! So it is with our Savior. His obedience to the Father even unto
death germinated not only his life eternal in a resurrected body, but also the
lives of all who would follow him.
Is the resurrection incredible? Of course it is! Only God
could do it. But it is just as real as it is incredible. So today, this Easter
Sunday, say with me the incredible truth. He is risen! Not he was, not he will
be. He is! It is the great truth of the gospel and the great truth of all
history that we believe not only that he lived, but that he lives. He has overcome sin, and he has overcome death, and if we
believe, we have his promise that we can do the same.
So let us resurrect the resurrection. Let’s talk about it. Let’s
celebrate it. It is the most liberating truth of all time. The natural
conclusion to human life is not death, but rather life and life abundant. This
is the message of the resurrection. We are all invited to the table.
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