An un-resurrected Jesus at Easter, part 2
Before Jesus’ resurrection from death, his teachings were inspiring, instructive, invitational—which is to say that, rather than giving people lists of rules to live by, Jesus much more often appears to have invited hearers to travel several spiritual pathways—as he did—in search of their own discoveries for serving, coping, understanding, correcting, achieving, celebrating. That these teachings have survived this long and despite how little Jesus material has survived at all, are proofs of their value and validity.
Had there been no resurrection the power of his teachings would have remained undiminished.
Do I believe Jesus was raised from death to life? I don’t think it matters to anyone but me, but I do, though not in ways many followers of Jesus do. That aside, am I smarter or more theologically sophisticated or more spiritually evolved, more favored by God, than those who don’t believe in his resurrection? Not in the least.
I’d much much much prefer to cast my lot with seekers trying to live by Jesus’ example, grappling with his forever-fresh spiritual challenges than with MAGAt faux Christians who claim to believe in Jesus’ historical bodily resurrection while living consistently in opposition to the truths of what he taught. In case you’re not sure you know any such people, let me point you to Trump and every member of his cabinet.
Resurrection might give us hope about life in the next realm, but believing it occurred or not fails to impact day to day life significantly.
The supreme way to honor Jesus at Easter and the rest of the year is not by memorizing the resurrection section of the Apostles’s Creed and giving intelligent assent to those concepts (“I believe in...Jesus Christ…who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead….”) but rather by daily loving and living as he did—complete with risks—asking others to join him.
