Updated Friday, March 07, 2008

Grave with a view

By Milton A. Hollifield Jr.

BSC Executive Director-Treasurer

The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead remains the most controversial doctrine ever preached by the church. Evidence for this fact can easily be seen from the now infamous Jesus Seminar in 1993 when seminar fellow Thomas Sheehan, stated that "Jesus, regardless of where his corpse ended up, is dead and remains dead." The Jesus Seminar released these conclusions for those who would seek to understand and respond to "modern" Christian doctrine:

- The resurrection of Jesus did not involve the resuscitation of a corpse;

- Belief in Jesus' resurrection did not depend on what happened to His body;

- The body of Jesus decayed as do other corpses;

- The resurrection was not an event that happened on the first Easter Sunday; it was not an event that could have been recorded by a video camera;

- It is not necessary to believe in the historical veracity of the resurrection narratives.

It was none other than Rudolf Bultmann, one the most influential New Testament scholars of the 20th century, who said: "It is impossible to use electric light and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries and at the same time believe in the New Testament world of demons and spirits." Bultmann later stated that thinking people know that bodies do not rise from the dead, and it is time that the church should stop making such claims.

I disagree with both Bultmann's statement and Sheehan's conclusions because the holy scriptures emphatically state that Christ literally arose from death in a bodily resurrection. God's word is always truth. However, before those of us who claim to believe that Jesus truly did emerge alive from the grave become unsettled, perhaps we should ask ourselves if we live each day in light of the resurrection we say we believe.

When was the last time we saw our every earthly trial from the perspective of the empty tomb and believed that even the most horrific emotional pain or physical malady would one day be swallowed up in a victorious triumph because Jesus Christ rose from the dead? When was the last time our corporate worship together each Sunday was filled with the knowledge that a living Christ was present watching us as we listened to the preaching of the Bible?

To be sure, we must vigilantly contend for the truth and boldly speak against those who would denounce the resurrection as a fairy tale. Yet, we who claim to be followers of this risen King must also draw strength from Him as we await His soon return. The same resurrection power, which raised Jesus from the dead is at work in our lives.

Resolve in your heart not to let this Easter season pass without spending time in prayer meditating on the cross, the grave, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Our hope is founded on a living Lord who is ordering all things according to His will. I know He is alive because I spoke with Him this morning. Celebrate His resurrection!

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. - Romans 8:11