Gabriel Chan asks what is the most important belief that Christians hold?
It is getting to that time of year again ... We’re just a few weeks away from Easter. Have you planned your holidays?
While you enjoy time away with family and loved ones, I invite you to attend a Christian church to explore the profoundly significant events that originally gave rise to these "holy days", and how their message of hope could change your life today.
At Christmas, we remember the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, God’s entry into humanity. Easter on the face of it does not have the same celebratory connotations. Some of you may hold in your consciousness that Easter is more morbidly associated with Jesus’ public death on a cross, witnessed by his own mother and disciples.
While somewhat normalised today in artistic representation, his death was brutal. During the first and second century, crucifixion was considered so tortuous that it was referred to as "the extreme penalty" (Tacitus), and it was said that even the word "cross" should be removed from a Roman’s ears, eyes and thoughts (Cicero).
For the Christian, taking the time to remember and proclaim Jesus’ death on that cross is to remember that "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Romans 5:8.
It is a recognition that death, the one sure experience of every human on earth, is an experience that Jesus himself intentionally journeyed through. This is non-controversial. Everyone dies, even holy people.
That said, Jesus Christ’s death by crucifixion, as widely attested by critical scholar and theologian alike, is the first necessary fact in approaching the resurrection.
It is the unusual claim three days later (summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8), that I want to explore — Jesus’ bodily resurrection.
Resurrection is the most consequential belief for the Christian and non-Christian alike, if true. So significant is this event for our beliefs that the apostle Paul declares "If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins." 1 Corinthians 15:17.
There is no such thing as Christianity if the resurrection is false. But if true, forgiveness of sin and peace with God is available for all, by believing in the consequences of these events for yourself.
So, is the resurrection credible? It is widely accepted that Jesus’ disciples came to believe that he rose and appeared to them.
This was not the case immediately. All four gospels make plain that the disciples were initially sceptical and ready to abandon their trust in Jesus, despite their miraculous experiences with him. Faith can be fragile for all humans, even the apostles.
They doubted the testimony of the women, returning from the empty tomb. They held furtive conversations hidden away in rooms. Some removed themselves from the community, blending into the safety of their former professions.
Nothing in their behaviour suggested that they were anticipating the resurrection. They could not muster the strength to overcome professional soldiers guarding Jesus’ body, or make up the resurrection story. They had given up.
These embarrassing recollections recorded in scripture, point to a plain and early presentation of the facts as they happened, rather than a carefully generated narrative.
But it is when Jesus appeared to them that we see a radical transformation. Suddenly these same men were out in public, in the temple, proclaiming that Jesus was risen. So convinced were they of this fact that they faced slander, prison and ultimately lost loved ones and gave their own lives while still proclaiming their testimony.
What is it that motivated them to do this? It was the experience of seeing the risen Jesus.
So transformative is this experience that James, Jesus’ brother and a lifelong sceptic of his older sibling, became first a believer and later the leader of the Jerusalem church, after seeing the risen Lord (1 Cor 15:7).
Finally, there is the transformed life of the persecutor, Paul of Tarsus. He went from being an oppressor of Christians, to a major proclaimer of the event which gives rise to our faith.
You may wonder why is this significant today? Believing in the same powerful God gives everyone the opportunity of a new life, with God and people.
We see through Easter that God accepts both opponent and sceptic, when we are prepared to reconsider our life in the light of these events.
And through Jesus’ resurrection, we have hope, and answers in difficult times — things like the reconciliation of suffering with a good God, or the hope of an eternal life, as previously discussed in this column, find their explanation in the resurrection.
Wherever you are in your journey today, it is worth reconsidering the facts around Easter.
We are all invited to put our faith in the consequences of the world-changing event that is the resurrection.
■Rev Gabriel Chan is senior leader of Elim Church Dunedin, and chairman of the Combined Dunedin Churches.
