EASTER AS GOD’S BIG “YES!” TO JESUS’ NONVIOLENT LOVE
John 20:1-18
Rev. Paul Wrightman 4/9/23
“YAHWEH” – Y-A-H-W-E-H -- IS THE ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION
OF THE FOUR LETTERS IN HEBREW
THAT COMPRISE THE NAME OF GOD AS GIVEN IN EXODUS 3:14,
AND USUALLY TRANSLATED AS “I AM.”
THE CONTEXT OF GOD’S SHARING GOD’S PERSONAL NAME
WITH MOSES WAS GOD’S MANIFESTING GODSELF
IN THE PHYSICAL FORM OF A BURNING BUSH
WHICH WAS NOT ITSELF BURNED.
THERE ARE FIVE OTHER TIMES IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
WHERE GOD TEMPORARILY REVEALS GODSELF IN PHYSICAL FORM
IN ORDER TO BETTER COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE.
ONE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING GOD’S MYSTERIOUS PRESENCE
IN JESUS IS SIMPLY AS THE CULMINATION OF
A SIGNIFICANT SERIES OF MANIFESTATIONS ON GOD’S PART.
MANY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT GOD
TOOK THIS SERIES TO ITS ULTIMATE CONCLUSION
BY FULLY BECOMING A PERSON IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.
GOD HAS A PARTICULAR AFFINITY
WITH THE PREPOSITION WITH.
TAKING THE HEBREW AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES AS A WHOLE,
IT WOULD NOT BE GOING TOO FAR TO SAY
THAT GOD LIKES NOTHING BETTER THAN TO BE WITH PEOPLE.
GOD’S “WITHNESS” REACHES ITS HIGH POINT
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS,
ONE OF WHOSE NAMES IS “EMMANUEL,”
WHICH LITERALLY MEANS “GOD-WITH-US.”
(See Matthew 1:23)
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS WE CAN SEE HOW GOD-WITH-US
PERSONALLY INTERPRETS THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
IGNORING THE VAST MASS OF VIOLENT TEXTS,
AND IDENTIFYING INSTEAD WITH THE SMALL NUMBER OF TEXTS
THAT DESCRIBE A MESSIAH WHOSE AUTHORITY LIES IN
NONVIOLENCE AND SUFFERING RATHER THAN
MILITARY MIGHT AND VICTORY.
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS WE CAN LITERALLY SEE
HOW GOD “OPERATES,” SO TO SPEAK,
AND WHAT WE SEE IS THAT GOD ALWAYS WORKS
THROUGH UNMITIGATED ACCEPTANCE,
UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS, AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
LAST WEEK WE TOOK A LOOK AT THE EVENTS OF HOLY WEEK,
INCLUDING A GLANCE AT THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
OF “ATONEMENT,” OR HOW BROKEN HUMAN BEINGS
CAN ONCE AGAIN BECOME “AT ONE” WITH GOD.
THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH
HAS INSISTED THAT “JESUS HAD TO DIE FOR OUR SINS,”
THAT HIS BLOOD –
MUCH LIKE THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB
SACRIFICED IN THE COURTYARD OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE
ON THE HOLIEST DAY OF THE YEAR, THE DAY OF ATONEMENT –
THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH HAS INSISTED
THAT JESUS’ BLOOD SERVED AS COVER FOR OUR SINS.
TODAY, MANY BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AND THEOLOGIANS
ARE OFFERING A “SECOND OPINION” ON THE MEANING
OF ATONEMENT, ONE THAT ACKNOWLEDGES THE FACT
THAT GOD WAS INTO FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION
LONG BEFORE THE COMING OF JESUS.
THIS SECOND OPINION SEES GOD AS GETTING SO SICK-AND-TIRED,
AS IT WERE, WITH THE AVALANCHE OF VIOLENCE
THAT WE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE PROJECTED
INTO THE BIBLE AND ONTO GOD,
THAT GOD WENT SO FAR AS TO ALLOW BROKEN HUMANITY
TO SUCCEED IN DOING ITS ABSOLUTE WORST,
AND TO VIOLENTLY KILL GOD IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.
GOD’S SUBMITTING TO DEATH IN THE PERSON OF GOD’S SON,
AND GOD SAYING TO GOD IN THE MIDST OF GOD’S DYING,
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM,
FOR THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING,”
(Luke 23:34)
IS GOD’S SAYING TO HUMANITY IN GENERAL
AND TO EACH OF US IN PARTICULAR
THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE CAN DO
THAT COULD MAKE GOD LOVE US LESS THAN UNCONDITIONALLY.
SOMETHING OF ULTIMATE AND ETERNAL IMPORTANCE
HAPPENED ON THE CROSS,
BUT IT WAS NOT THE SHEDDING OF JESUS’ BLOOD
TO MAKE PEACE BETWEEN US AND THE FATHER.
RATHER, THE CROSS WAS GOD’S ULTIMATE EXPESSION
OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS AND LOVE FOR BROKEN HUMAN BEINGS.
THIS INCONCEIVABLE EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US
WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST AND FORGOTTEN
IF GOD-THE-FATHER HAD NOT RAISED JESUS, GOD-WITH-US,
FROM THE DEAD.
IF JESUS HAD SIMPLY DIED,
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO WAY
FOR BROKEN HUMANITY TO KNOW
THE EXTENT OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US.
IF JESUS HAD SIMPLY DIED,
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO WAY
FOR BROKEN HUMANITY TO KNOW THAT GOD,
IN THE DEEPEST EXPRESSIONS OF GOD’S OWN BEING,
IS UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,
AND ABSOLUTE NONVIOLENCE.
THE RESURRECTION IS NOTHING LESS
THAN GOD’S OWN SEAL-OF-APPROVAL, AS IT WERE,
ON EVERYTHING THAT JESUS LIVED AND TAUGHT.
THE RESURRECTION IS GOD SAYING “YES!”
TO THE FORGIVING AND RECONCILING LOVE
THAT JESUS EMBODIED IN HIS LIFE AND ON THE CROSS.
IT IS OF SUPREME IMPORTANCE
THAT THE WRITERS OF THE GOSPELS
PORTRAY THE RESURRECTED JESUS
AS RETAINING THE WOUNDS IN HIS HANDS, FEET, AND SIDE.
THIS IS NO LESS THAN GOD TELLING US
THAT GOD’S WAY CONTINUES TO BE
THE WAY OF UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,
AND ABSOLUTE NONVIOLENCE.
IN OTHER WORDS, WE DO NOT HAVE
A SUFFERING SERVANT MESSIAH IN JESUS
ONLY UNTIL HIS DEATH,
AND THEN WITH HIS RESURRECTION THE SUFFERING SERVANT
SUDDENLY BECOMES A VICTORIOUS WARRIOR-KING.
NO, GOD’S WAY IS TOTALLY CONSISTENT:
THE FORGIVENESS, LOVE, AND NONVIOLENCE OF JESUS
THROUGHOUT HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY
IS THE SAME FORGIVENESS, LOVE, AND NONVIOLENCE
IN HIS RESURRECTED MINISTRY.
EVEN MORE: THE RESURRECTION IS THE SPILLING-OVER
OF GOD’S INVINCIBLE LOVE INTO THE REALM OF DEATH ITSELF.
GOD LOVES HUMAN BEINGS AND GOD’S CREATION SO MUCH
THAT GOD DECIDED TO OVER-RULE THE POWER OF DEATH
BY OVERCOMING DEATH WITH THE POWER OF LIFE-GIVING LOVE.
THUS, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
IS GOD’S PROMISE OF RESURRECTION TO EACH OF US,
AND TO ALL THAT HAS BEEN, IS NOW, AND WILL BE
PART OF GOD’S GOOD CREATION.
BUT, MANY IN TODAY’S WORLD WOULD ASK
WITH A GREAT DEAL OF INCREDULITY,
HOW CAN YOU ASK ME TO BELIEVE SOMETHING
THAT CAN’T BE EMPIRICALLY VERIFIED?
SOME WOULD SAY THAT IF BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS
HAVING TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION,
WELL, THEN, MAYBE I SHOULDN’T BE USING THAT NAME
TO DESCRIBE MYSELF ANY LONGER.
FIRST OF ALL,
NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE DOES IT SAY
THAT ONE HAS TO BELIEVE ANYTHING
IN ORDER TO BE A BELOVED CHILD OF GOD.
JESUS, WHEN ASKED POINT-BLANK
“WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?”
DID NOT RATTLE OFF A LIST OF THINGS
THAT ONE HAD TO BELIEVE ABOUT HIM,
BUT SIMPLY REFERRED TO LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR.
(See Luke 10:25-28)
BESIDES, THE HIGHEST AND DEEPEST INSIGHTS OF THE BIBLE
MAKE IT CLEAR THAT GOD LOVES ALL PEOPLE,
AND THAT IN THE END GOD’S LOVE WILL WIN OUT
NO MATTER WHAT WE DO OR DON’T BELIEVE ABOUT GOD.
I HAPPEN TO BELIEVE IN THE INCARNATION –
THE FACT THAT GOD BECAME A PERSON IN THE PERSON OF JESUS –
BECAUSE, FOR ME, NOTHING ELSE EVEN BEGINS TO CAPTURE
THE SINGULAR PERSON AND SINGULAR TEACHINGS OF JESUS.
I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
FOR A WHOLE LOT OF REASONS,
MANY OF WHICH YOU HAVE HEARD IN PAST EASTER SERMONS.
YOU KNOW, STUFF LIKE THE EYEWITNESS NATURE
OF THE GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF WHAT HAPPENED
ON EASTER MORNING,
THE ODD DETAIL OF JESUS’ GRAVECLOTHES BEING DESCRIBED
AS IF JESUS ROSE RIGHT OUT OF THEM,
WOMEN BEING ACKNOWLEDGED AS THE FIRST WITNESSES
TO THE RESURRECTION IN SPITE OF THE FACT
THAT A WOMAN’S TESTIMONY CARRIED NO LEGAL WEIGHT
AT THAT TIME,
THE DISCIPLES NOT BUILDING A MEMORIAL
TO THEIR DEAD PROPHET IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT
THERE WERE MANY SUCH MEMORIALS TO DEAD PROPHETS
IN JERUSALEM.
LATELY, HOWEVER, MUCH TO MY SURPRISE
I HAVE DISCOVERED ANOTHER REASON
TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION.
THIS ONE HAS TO DO WITH THE WORK
THAT I’VE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS CONCERNING
THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE.
I’LL PUT IT THIS WAY:
I HAPPEN TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION
BECAUSE, FOR ME, NOTHING ELSE
EVEN BEGINS TO EXPLAIN THE FACT
THAT THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS OF JESUS
ARE THE ONLY PLACE IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE
THAT ARE TOTALLY FREE FROM HUMAN VIOLENCE
PROJECTED ONTO GOD.
TO MY WAY OF THINKING,
AN OVERWHELMINGLY VIOLENT HUMANITY
COULD NEVER HAVE INVENTED
A TOTALLY NONVIOLENT GENRE OF LITERATURE,
WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS ARE.
FOR ME, THE WRITERS OF THE GOSPELS HAD TO BE DESCRIBING
EVENTS AND APPEARANCES THAT REALLY TOOK PLACE,
BECAUSE ON THEIR OWN THEY WOULD HAVE REVERTED
TO A VIOLENT UNDERSTANDING OF GOD,
AS EACH WRITER DOES, IN FACT, DO
IN VARIOUS PLACES IN THEIR TELLING OF THE GOSPEL.
BUT NONE REVERTS TO VIOLENCE IN THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS,
WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN THE IDEAL PLACE
TO CORRECT THE SUFFERING SERVANT MODEL OF MESSIAH
WITH THE TRIUMPHALISM OF A VICTORIOUS WARRIOR-KING,
SUCH AS WE FIND IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
TO MY WAY OF THINKING,
MATTHEW, AND FOR THAT MATTER, THE OTHER GOSPEL WRITERS,
PROJECT THEIR OWN VIOLENCE ONTO JESUS AT TIMES.
NOT SO, HOWEVER, WITH THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNTS,
WHERE JESUS CONSISTENTLY SAYS THINGS LIKE
“DO NOT BE AFRAID,” “PEACE BE WITH YOU,”
“COME AND HAVE BREAKFAST,” AND “I WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU.”
SOMETHING NEW WAS HAPPENING HERE.
THE GOSPEL WRITERS WERE DESCRIBING SOMETHING
TOTALLY UNPRECEDENTED:
NAMELY, A PERSON, THE PERSON OF JESUS,
WHO AFTER HIS VIOLENT DEATH
EXHIBITED NO DESIRE TO GET EVEN, NO DESIRE FOR REVENGE,
NO VIOLENCE WHATSOEVER.
THIS, I VENTURE, SIMPLY COULD NOT BE THE PRODUCT
OF HUMAN INVENTION,
BUT HAD TO BE A WHOLE NEW CHAPTER
IN THE HISTORY OF GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMANKIND.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT FIRST EASTER MORNING
NEARLY TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO,
IS SOMETHING THAT HAS IMPLICATIONS
BOTH BACKWARD AND FORWARD IN TIME,
NAMELY THE FACT THAT GOD HAS ONCE-AND-FOR-ALL
BROKEN THE RULE OF DEATH IN JESUS’ RESURRECTION.
CELTIC CHRISTIANITY, A FORM OF THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION
WITH WHICH I RESONATE HIGHLY,
MAINTAINS, AMONG OTHER THINGS,
THAT THIS WORLD, OUR WORLD, IS HIGHLY PERMEABLE,
AND THAT THERE ARE MANY
OF WHAT ARE CALLED “THIN PLACES,”
PLACES WHERE OUR DIMENSION OPENS UP TO GOD’S DIMENSION
AND GOD’S DIMENSION OPENS UP TO OURS.
PERHAPS THIS IS WHAT’S GOING ON
IN THE NUMEROUS NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES
WHICH ARE BEING REPORTED –
ONE DIMENSION TEMPORARILY INTERFACING WITH ANOTHER.
I FIND IT FASCINATING THAT THE NEXT SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS
AT C-E-R-N, THE ENORMOUS NUCLEAR ACCELARATOR
NEAR GENEVA, SWITZERLAND,
WILL BE TO TRY TO PROVE THE EXISTENCE
OF UNIVERSES PARALLEL TO OURS IN OTHER DIMENSIONS.
IF THIS HAPPENS, AS MANY THINK IT WILL, MANY WOULD SAY
THAT WE WILL HAVE DISCOVERED A SCIENTIFIC BASIS
FOR THE “THIN PLACES” THAT ARE SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART
OF CELTIC CHRISTIANITY.
ONE OF THE DELIGHTFUL THINGS ABOUT CELTIC CHRISTIANITY
IS THAT IN IT GOD HAS A MISCHIEVOUS SENSE OF HUMOR.
GOD ENJOYS, IF YOU WILL, RE-ENCHANTING THE WORLD
WITH TRACES OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE.
CHRISTIAN SOCIOLOGIST PETER BERGER
CALLS THIS PHENOMENON “THE RUMOR OF ANGELS.”
MAY GOD GRANT US PLAYFUL SURPRISES IN OUR LIVES,
GLIMPSES OF THE OTHER SIDE THAT STOP US IN OUR TRACKS,
AND CAUSE US TO WONDER IF SOME OF THE STORIES OF JESUS,
SO EASILY DISCOUNTABLE IN OUR “SCIENTIFIC” AGE,
MAY NOT BE TRUE AFTER ALL.
THANK GOD FOR THIN PLACES,
THANK GOD FOR SURPRISES,
THANK GOD FOR WONDER.
AMEN.