Can't Have One Without The Other!
No I am not talking about love and marriage, but about life and death, cross and resurrection. Note the reversal in those two ideas. Our normal way of thinking is life first, then death. But the faith reverses things in the light of Jesus resurrection. It is cross and resurrection, death to life. In the death of our Lord Jesus, we have life, death and life again. That is why Jesus is unique and both are essential.
A few years ago the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ" was shown during Lent. It portrayed what the title said it would, the death of Jesus. This movie moved many people and may have brought a few to faith. It showed the great lengths our Lord took in order to win our salvation. However, in my mind, two hours of beating Jesus and crucifying him and two or three minutes of his resurrection puts the emphasis in absolutely the wrong place. At the very least there should be a sequel to portray all of the appearances of Jesus and his ascension, ending in Pentecost. Yet, for many Christians, the cross has much more significance than the resurrection. I have never been able to figure that out. Why would the cross be the most important thing? I grant it is of supreme importance to our atonement and forgiveness, but is it the ultimate thing to which to cling?
As I have said nearly every Lent, the cross is important. In it we find the mystery of our forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice. There are many theories of atonement in Western theology. The Western mind wants to understand the meaning of things, particularly in our culture. None of the theories of atonement are easy to understand. They give us no more than a partial glimpse of what atonement is about. If the cross is ultimate, then death is ultimate. It is life, death and nothing. Then there is the fact that the cross was a common punishment for state criminals who were not citizens of Rome. I have seen estimates as high as 300,000 crucifixions in the Holy Land in the time Rome ruled it. What is one more dead traitor to Rome? Two other people died the day Jesus did that day. His death was not unique. Why is it that only one of those deaths, that of Jesus of Nazareth, is revered as atoning by a billion people on earth today? Of course it was because Jesus was the incarnate God and because he rose from the dead. So, the thing that makes the cross unique and atoning is who Jesus was and that he rose on the third day. God alone can give us the gift of life eternal. It is a gift of grace!
Why then do that certain groups put more emphasis on the cross, rather than the resurrection? I think it is partly their burden of guilt. They believe they deserve that punishment, but Jesus took it for them. Are we to spend our lives wallowing in our own sins? Is there not some resurrection for us to Christian joy and love of life, rather than constant guilt and looking past death toward where we are going to spend eternity? We become a death cult when we put the cross ahead of the resurrection. That is something to be pitied, for the earliest Christians saw the resurrection as that which gives life in this world and into the next world as well. The broken relationship with God which our sin has created, which brought on death, is reversed in the resurrection. We can be really alive because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can be assured of life as the ultimate good gift from God. We can be sure that no evil will destroy our relationship with God. Yes, life seems to be a case of life, then death. But it is really life, death and life, for believers
As we continue the journey of Lent, the holy spring of the Church, the shadows will grow darker, and the shadow of the cross, and of death, will be cast upon us. That shadow reminds us that we are dust, and to dust we too shall return. Then will come the full burst of the light of the resurrection! The cross is of immense importance, but it is not ultimate. Good Friday is not the high holy day we are preparing to celebrate, but the festival of the resurrection of Christ. Yes in Lent we do focus on the fact that is all too apparent in human history, we sin, and we die. But that is penultimate for Christians. We also live a life that is eternal. Otherwise Christianity would really be as depressing as people sometimes think it is. Yes there is the darkness of Holy Week. There is also the light of resurrection. We must have the cross! We must have the resurrection! We can't have one without the other! As we continue the journey of Lent, seeking God's mercy, remember the life that lies beyond the darkness of sin and death. As we ask for God's mercy, remember the profound gift of forgiving love that God gave us. We live and will live eternally because Christ is risen.
In Hope,
Jim Stahr
No I am not talking about love and marriage, but about life and death, cross and resurrection. Note the reversal in those two ideas. Our normal way of thinking is life first, then death. But the faith reverses things in the light of Jesus resurrection. It is cross and resurrection, death to life. In the death of our Lord Jesus, we have life, death and life again. That is why Jesus is unique and both are essential.
A few years ago the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ" was shown during Lent. It portrayed what the title said it would, the death of Jesus. This movie moved many people and may have brought a few to faith. It showed the great lengths our Lord took in order to win our salvation. However, in my mind, two hours of beating Jesus and crucifying him and two or three minutes of his resurrection puts the emphasis in absolutely the wrong place. At the very least there should be a sequel to portray all of the appearances of Jesus and his ascension, ending in Pentecost. Yet, for many Christians, the cross has much more significance than the resurrection. I have never been able to figure that out. Why would the cross be the most important thing? I grant it is of supreme importance to our atonement and forgiveness, but is it the ultimate thing to which to cling?
As I have said nearly every Lent, the cross is important. In it we find the mystery of our forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice. There are many theories of atonement in Western theology. The Western mind wants to understand the meaning of things, particularly in our culture. None of the theories of atonement are easy to understand. They give us no more than a partial glimpse of what atonement is about. If the cross is ultimate, then death is ultimate. It is life, death and nothing. Then there is the fact that the cross was a common punishment for state criminals who were not citizens of Rome. I have seen estimates as high as 300,000 crucifixions in the Holy Land in the time Rome ruled it. What is one more dead traitor to Rome? Two other people died the day Jesus did that day. His death was not unique. Why is it that only one of those deaths, that of Jesus of Nazareth, is revered as atoning by a billion people on earth today? Of course it was because Jesus was the incarnate God and because he rose from the dead. So, the thing that makes the cross unique and atoning is who Jesus was and that he rose on the third day. God alone can give us the gift of life eternal. It is a gift of grace!
Why then do that certain groups put more emphasis on the cross, rather than the resurrection? I think it is partly their burden of guilt. They believe they deserve that punishment, but Jesus took it for them. Are we to spend our lives wallowing in our own sins? Is there not some resurrection for us to Christian joy and love of life, rather than constant guilt and looking past death toward where we are going to spend eternity? We become a death cult when we put the cross ahead of the resurrection. That is something to be pitied, for the earliest Christians saw the resurrection as that which gives life in this world and into the next world as well. The broken relationship with God which our sin has created, which brought on death, is reversed in the resurrection. We can be really alive because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can be assured of life as the ultimate good gift from God. We can be sure that no evil will destroy our relationship with God. Yes, life seems to be a case of life, then death. But it is really life, death and life, for believers
As we continue the journey of Lent, the holy spring of the Church, the shadows will grow darker, and the shadow of the cross, and of death, will be cast upon us. That shadow reminds us that we are dust, and to dust we too shall return. Then will come the full burst of the light of the resurrection! The cross is of immense importance, but it is not ultimate. Good Friday is not the high holy day we are preparing to celebrate, but the festival of the resurrection of Christ. Yes in Lent we do focus on the fact that is all too apparent in human history, we sin, and we die. But that is penultimate for Christians. We also live a life that is eternal. Otherwise Christianity would really be as depressing as people sometimes think it is. Yes there is the darkness of Holy Week. There is also the light of resurrection. We must have the cross! We must have the resurrection! We can't have one without the other! As we continue the journey of Lent, seeking God's mercy, remember the life that lies beyond the darkness of sin and death. As we ask for God's mercy, remember the profound gift of forgiving love that God gave us. We live and will live eternally because Christ is risen.
In Hope,
Jim Stahr
posted by Theoblogger at
4:02 PM
