The Easter Body

Mitchell, Brody, Shannon, and Shelby,

The other day, I came across a website that claimed that Jesus' death on the cross was a myth created by Christians.  One of the author's reasons for contention, besides his own wild conspiracy theories, was that crosses didn't start to adorn Christian tombs and art until a couple of centuries after Christ's death.  I don't know if that fact is completely true, since he was a conspiracy theorist and I have been able to verify many of his historical claims to be false, but since I'm currently writing this without any access to the internet and cannot Google "Earliest references to the cross," I'll assume he's correct.

The reason being that, even if this was true, it only emphasizes the main point of our faith.

It's weird that the cross would be the symbol for our faith, when you think about it.  It represents an important part of the process, Christ's sacrifice, which truly is important in how it allows God to forgive us while also being completely just.  Yet, that isn't what our faith is about.  It isn't about suffering.  It's about trusting in God's promise to sinners that we shall inherit eternal life.  It's about the completion of a covenantal bond.  It's about something good.

Just the other day, we celebrated Easter.  For some reason, I tend to see a lot of artwork right around this time of year having to do with the cross.  Even I, when I hand myself over to a fully automatic thought process, think of the crucifixion when I think of Easter.  "Christmas is for the birth of Christ, but Easter is when we start talking the important things that symbolize our entire faith.  If there's ever a time to spread the word of the main message of our faith, it's on Easter!  What's the one things that the world can't secularize?  Jesus' death.  It's the most distinctively Christian of all the Christian doctrines!"

Because, you know, the cross has become an ecumenical symbol of our faith.  What do you see when you approach a church?  Almost everywhere you look, you see artwork and architecture modeled after the cross.  That, and actual crosses.  "The Cross" has become a synonym for "Jesus."

So naturally, this holiday that gets down to the fundamentals of our faith must be about the cross.

Except not so much.

Actually, our faith is about the Resurrection.  Specifically, a bodily Resurrection.  Jesus had to overcome, on every level, the curse spread throughout Creation when Eve accepted the serpent's lie.  By defeating death, He undid everything that the serpent accomplished.  By removing the curse from himself, the curse ceased to be an absolute power within created order.

The way early Christians commemorated this was through something we call the Eucharist.  They took the bread and the wine, confessing that it was the the actual presence of the Lord.  This was their symbol, and this was how they marked themselves, for this was indeed who they actually were.  Through the Resurrection, we have actually become Christlike.  They saw people publicly tortured to death on crosses all the time, but it wasn't everyday that they saw a person come back to life.  The crucifixion paid the penalty for our sins, but we aren't restored to our proper relationship with God on such graceful terms unless we accept the Resurrection.  It's His gift, fully paid for on the cross, and fully given to us through the Resurrection, for all of us in His holy church to receive.

The Son rose to life from His grave.  Therefore, I believe that the Son rises to life in all of us who accept His incredibly expensive — and completely free — gift.  God points His finger at us and says "You are the body of My Own."  It's so ridiculously spendthrift of God, so generous beyond all human expectations, that it's no wonder that it takes great faith to fully accept it.  Yet it's true.  It's the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus preached when He repeated, again and again, that the Kingdom of Heaven was coming.

Sincerely,
John Hooyer