Easter

This day is the reason we are Christians.

Jesus was a prophet, yet many men were prophets.

He was a radical social reformer, but those have existed ever since society came into existence.

He was a wise teacher and progressive moral leader, but in His day there were many wise teachers and many moral leaders.

He was a healer and a miracle worker, who cast out demons and cleansed lepers; he even raised people from the dead. However, all these wonders had been done before Him, and men after him would continue to perform all the same miracles.

If Jesus was only any of the above, He would have come and gone. History may have remembered Him, but He would not have the following He has had throughout history. People would not have died for Him, or be willing to die for Him, or continue to die for Him.

No, Jesus was much more than all those earthly roles, and He is something no other man is. He is the Messiah, the perfect Lamb of God, who three days ago was slaughtered as a Passover sacrifice, to atone for the sins of the world. He went willingly to that unjust fate, because of His love for us.

However, that alone is still not the entire reason we follow Him.

He died, but many died.

However, He rose.

Jesus could have stayed dead in the tomb. His followers, scared of a similar fate, had scattered, and the impact of this brief “Messiah” would have lasted only three painful years. However, three days after He was killed, His tomb was found empty, despite being guarded by elite Roman guards. He then appeared, resurrected in the flesh, yet with a Heavenly glory. He stayed on this earth for forty more days, instructing his disciples, before ascending into Heaven.

That is why we are Christians. Not because of His teachings. Not because of His miracles. Not even because of His death. We are Christians because of His Resurrection.

Luke 24:13-21:

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 18One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”

Birkat Hahammah

Today is the Jewish holiday of Birkat Hahammah. According to this site, the Jewish community believes that, on this day, the sun completes circuit and returns to the spot where it was originally created, at the time it was created in the beginning. This only happens once every twenty-eight years, and this is only the 206th time the sun has completed it’s trip.

The Overview page gives a brief description of how they calculated these numbers, and they admit that there is a margin of error. However, the site says the celebration and meaning are more important than the actual date.

At dawn, the celebrants rise and go outside. They face east and recite “Blessed are You, Adonai, our God and God of all the universe, who makes all things in creation.”.

As with many Jewish holidays, I see no problem in acknowledging Birkat Hahammah and learning more about it. Both Jews and Christians believe in the same God, and we share the same creation story (in fact, I’d say the only real thing that separates us is that Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah, and Jews do not). I don’t think it’s wrong to entertain the belief that today the sun is in its original place. It’s certainly a good a time as any to reflect on the sun.

Genesis 1 describes the creation of the sun on the fourth day:

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Whatever view you hold on literal six-day creation, God gave us a great gift when He gave us the sun. Without the sun’s light and warmth, most of the life on earth could not exist. The sheer amount of energy produced by nuclear fusion within it, far greater than anything humans have devised, is a testimony to the power of the One who made the sun, compared to the weakness of man who needs it.

So  take a minute today to honor the sun, and even more to honor the God who made it and who sustains us with His power.

Also, sundown today marks the start of the Jewish festival of Passover, which I’ve written about before, and which all Christians should learn about, both to understand their heritage, and to comprehend the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper and Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Fireworks

Yesterday was the Fourth of July, which, for the international readers, is the day America celebrates her succession and independence from Great Britain, which took place on July 4th, 1776.

A traditional part of this celebration is fireworks. Firework shows are put on by different cities, municipalities, and even private parties. I live in an area with lots of small suburbs, so many different shows were going on at once. From my back yard, you could stand and have fireworks exploding all around you. It was a very beautiful sight.

A thought occurred to me as I watched them: fireworks are happy things. While they have their dangers, watching colorful explosions in the sky is something most people find entertaining. They are just innately happy.

It feels like I’ve been writing a lot recently about how uncertain the present is, and how bad things could happen very suddenly. Perhaps people think that Christianity is an unhappy or depressing worldview, always fretting about how unsure tomorrow is, and never able to see the fireworks.

This is not the case at all. A central idea of Christianity is “good news.” Yes, this world is uncertain, yes, troubles do come, and yes, Christians should keep theirs eyes forward and looking up. But that does not mean they cannot find happiness within the present. A Christian’s happiness within the present, though, comes from acknowledging the fact that the present is uncertain, but enjoying it anyway, knowing that whatever changes and troubles come our way, our lot is with God, and our end is with Him. All our current and future trials are quick and fleeting, so we need not worry about them in the present.

It makes me think of one of my favorite hymns, “Farther Along.” You read the lyrics and hear the melody here (beware of auto-playing music). Here is the chorus:

Farther along we’ll know all about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.

A line that always stuck out at me was “cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine.” The song talks of encouragement, and how in the future we’ll understand our present troubles. And then it says that line; we should cheer up even in the present, because in the end we’ll know why we had to undergo the trials and we’ll see the entire picture.

A Christian does not need to dim to present with fears of the future. Instead, one may relax and be content with the present, and enjoy the fireworks, knowing that whatever may come, we will eventually reach an eternal glory.

Easter

Regardless of whether today is the actual, calender-date anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus, and regardless of whether it is theologically allowed to treat this day as “special,” this is as good a time as any to reflect for a moment on the Resurrection.

I heard a story today about a newsman reporting the holiday as “today is the day Christians gather to celebrate the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

I actually like this. Most reporters I heard today simply described it as “celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.” It felt like they were treating it as simply a religious belief or a matter of opinion- you either believe it or not. Opinions cannot be true or false, so questioning whether the resurrection actually happened would be pointless.

Adding “alleged,” however, changes it. It no longer is simply a personal decision to either believe or not believe. An alleged event is an event that someone has claimed to have happened. The resurrection makes a claim of historic truth, and opinions matter little in the face of truth.

In a way, all Christians are conspiracy theorists. The official word explaining the disappearance of the body of Jesus was that the body was stolen. We believe otherwise. We believe that the body of Jesus, although completely dead, was restored to life, and that Jesus got up, walked out of the tomb, and appeared to many people before ascending into Heaven.

The Resurrection is the core tenant of the Christian faith, and is either a historic event or not. Merely dismissing it as a matter of opinion is to misunderstand Christianity.

On the subject of Easter, Martin LaBar at Sun and Shield has a good thought on the Resurrection, and Tom Gilson has two new posts on “The Ironies of Easter,” and has reran a post on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Many will recognize these words from the song “Low in the Grave He Lay” (from Cyberhymnal- careful of the auto-playing sound):

“Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

-Mark 16:6