Rumors of the Resurrection:

Seven Meditations on Easter
 

These new devotions bring together some of Josh's best Easter messages from 25 years of ministry. Read for yourself, give to a friend, or share with a study group!

Chapter titles include:

Do Not Be Afraid – the Easter story as told by Matthew
Running Away – the original "short version" of Easter from the gospel of Mark
A Day of Discovery – the story of Mary, the first to discover the empty tomb
From Our Own Graves – the challenging experience of Joseph of Arimathea
By Our Side – the unknown Christ who meets us on the road
The Disciple from Missouri – the skeptic saint, Doubting Thomas
How Did It All End? – how do we understand the Ascension?

---

Everything in Christian life, thought and culture has its roots in Easter. It all starts here. Bach and Handel and Michelangelo. All of the hymns and spirituals we sing. All of Christian art and literature. All of our history – even the history of our religious divisions, because every separate strand of Christian belief and practice somehow traces back to Easter morning.

The first Easter Sunday was not a day when everyone suddenly figured out the whole story. The truth is that it took a while. People saw different things, and it took time as they compared their different experiences, and as they tentatively put the pieces together and tried to see what the whole picture really was.

The title of this books is Rumors of the Resurrection. Because on Easter morning, all they really had to work with, was rumors. And by "rumors," I don't mean lies. I just mean they didn't have proof. Half-baked and half-believed stories. Maybe fact, and maybe fiction. Who really knew the truth?

Everybody knew that Jesus was dead. Many of Jesus' friends were eyewitnesses to his death. They were there at the Last Supper. They were there when Jesus was arrested. They were waiting outside during his trial. They watched while Jesus carried the heavy wooden beam of his cross, to the place where he was executed. They heard him cry out – "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And they saw him die.

In Matthew, when Jesus dies, you've got spectacular events. There's an earthquake. The veil that closes off the innermost room of the temple, which hides the presence of God, is torn right down the middle. In every cemetery in town, the tombs and graves open up, and dead people are raised to life. Matthew is clearly trying to make a point here with his version of the story.

In Mark, you've got the stripped-down version. The women go to the cemetery and find the empty tomb, and the angel. But then it says, "They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. . ."

In Luke, you've got the same Easter story, but instead of just one angel, there are two of them. The women report to Jesus' friends what they've seen, but it says, "these words seemed like an idle tale" – a rumor! - "and they did not believe them. . ." Later that day, according to Luke, Jesus met two of his friends as they walked along the road from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. But they didn't recognize him. They walked and talked, and when they stopped for the night, they asked Jesus to have supper with them. Only when Jesus said the blessing over the meal, did they figure out who it was.

In John's gospel, we've got the same basic story. But this time it was Mary Magdalene who didn't recognize Jesus. She was crying so hard that she couldn't see him. It wasn't until Jesus called her name – "Mary!" – that she knew who it was. I always think that's an important part of the Easter story. We are blind, and Christ is right in front of us. And then Jesus calls us each by name.

I think that acceptance and belief are very difficult tasks. The evidence of the gospels is that everyone who was connected with the Easter story had problems believing in it. And yet, Christ speaks to us, in some way that is direct and personal, and in a way which helps us exactly in the place of our weakness of belief.

Easter is not something we should take on blind faith, or repeat every year just because it's something we "always" do. I think we're required to test each of the different stories for spiritual integrity.

When I talk about "rumors", I'm not saying that these stories aren't true. I'm saying that we have to find out if they're true or not. If we don't find out for ourselves, then all the stories really are just rumors, in the negative sense. And everything to do with the gospel of Christ becomes just another urban legend.

We need to find out for ourselves what parts of the Easter story are true. That is the central task of Easter. And it's a task which goes on, and goes on, every day.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Joshua Brown

 

Order directly from: Good Read Press 450 College Avenue Richmond, IN 47374 (use order form below)

Back to main page