Good Friday and Easter are coming. So what?
Easter is early this year and in the life of the church we are in the midst of the preparation. The Twenty Minutes at the Cross speakers are being lined up for March 26 to 29, people are busily practising for the Good Friday Drama “Hope” March 30, Pastor Natasha is preparing a family Egg Hunt event for the public on March 31 and the plans are formulating for Easter Sunday. It is busy but why?
Why do Easter and Good Friday get so much attention? From a faith perspective they represent the central truths of the Christian faith. Jesus, who we believe to have been God in the flesh, part of the trinity, finished his mission in time and space by offering his life on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our brokenness and sin. Then he rose from the dead to reclaim his divinity and victory over death, brokenness and sin. Through this one selfless act he opened a door for us to have spiritual access to God like never before.
If this is true it is profoundly true. It becomes a world changer that we need to recognize. So what are the objections to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus? Are there legitimate reasons for ignoring this event?
Objection One: Jesus didn’t really die
No serious study of the evidence allow for this conclusion. The New Testament records (see John 19:33-35), the historical record of Josephus, the Romans’ mastery of the art of crucifixion all lead us to the conclusion that he was indeed dead. Those who knew him and followed him were not fooled by a substitute or look-alike. After the resurrection Thomas was allowed to examine the wounds (John 20: 24-29).
Objection Two:
The body was stolen
By whom and why? Stolen by those opposed to his teachings so that they could disprove the resurrection? This has no traction
because there was never any evidence of his body being produced. Stolen by his disciples to concoct a story of resurrection? This too does not hold up under the weight of even the New Testament account, which has them afraid and slow to believe, yet being transformed into a bold band of witnesses that would change the world.
Objection Three: The disciples
went to the wrong tomb
Sounds plausible in theory but it breaks down because this could have been easily remedied by those who had sent a guard to the tomb (Matthew 27: 62-66). If they wanted to dispel the idea of resurrection they simply needed to produce the body in the right tomb. But their attempt to deflect the resurrection was to pay people to say that the disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:11-15).
There is a fourth objection that goes something like this: “The disciples made up the whole story of Jesus borrowing from other mythology.” I do not have space to deal with that one today. I will write on it in a future article.
As I look at these objections I cannot find in them a legitimate reason for ignoring the significance of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. I want to encourage you to do your own soul searching on this. If Jesus really is the son of God, if He did die and raise again, if He did open a spiritual access to God then why would we ignore it all? The story of Good Friday and Easter can be a really positive game changer for your life. So what? That’s what!