Easter
Sermon Recap
Did the resurrection really happen? For all our celebrating, it is good for us to slow down and sit with that question.
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas points out that in a modernist mental framework, the resurrection is unbelievable. We live in a culture that has formed us with a naturalist perspective, implicitly believing that every thing we know exists within a closed system of causes and effects. Nothing can break in from the outside.
But if we treat that idea seriously, the very concept of naturalism is itself just another effect of some chemical interaction in our brains, not a valid ground of truth. CS Lewis argues that we need to displace naturalism with a supernaturalism, admitting that there is something outside of just nature that can break in to our lives.
Another view, suggested by David Hume, argues that someone lying about the resurrection is more probable than then the miracle itself, so we should reject the less probable option. Lewis calls out the flaws in this reasoning, pointing out that not only is that not how we measure probability, that’s not how history works. Every event in history happens only once.
Better measures of probability are these 2 things: the credibility of the witness, and the “fitness” of the claim (does it make sense of the rest of the story).
In Matthew’s gospel, there are 4 main witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus: the author, an angel, the two Marys, and the Roman guards. Are they credible witnesses?
Author: The gospel was composed by Matthew (or the Matthean community) somewhere between 60-90 AD, as little as 25 years after the alleged resurrection, which would be a very short period of time in an oral culture. It was written as a theological history, intended to tell what has happened in a way that underlines the author’s perceived significance of the events. While there may be some creative arranging of the material, we would expect the truth of the essential details to have been held accountable by the wider community as it was being first given.
The Angel: If we expect Matthew to be fairly credible, we should lean in to a claim of an angel even if we think it implausible. Even so, we could think the angel is an artistic liberty, used to represent a divine stamp of approval on the events being described. It’s interesting to note here that the witness of the angel (that Jesus was risen and headed to Galilee to meet his disciples) is a reiteration of things Jesus already said to his disciples before the crucifixion. The angel’s testimony doesn’t actually add any new details to the story.
The Two Marys. This is Mary Magdelene and Mary the mother of James and John. They had seen Jesus buried and were returning now to the tomb to pay homage. They became the primary witnesses to the resurrection. Are they credible?
Culturally, their testimony would have been considered legally unreliable. If you were inventing a story like this to launch a religious movement, you wouldn’t use women as primary witnesses in the center of the story. It would have been an embarrassing detail, unless it is just a record of what actually happened.
Roman guards. The guards, like the women, encounter the angel at the tomb. The women run to share the news with the disciples. The guards run to the chief priests, who bribe them to tell a different story. They are paid off to ensure the religious and political power structures of their day remain undisturbed.
Everything we know about the resurrection has been told to us by a witness, leaving us to consider their credibility. The second measure Lewis points to is “fitness”, or, does what is claimed make sense of the rest of the facts? Even if it makes you go back and read the story again, does the ending break the story or explain it?
Jesus has been considered a good moral teacher for over 2000 years. But He also predicted his resurrection and claimed to be the Son of God – astounding claims! Only if the resurrection actually happened can we say Jesus was not a complete lunatic, but rather that He is who He claimed to be.
The consequences of the truth of this are enormous. If the resurrection really happened, it means the disciples weren’t fighting for (or dying for) religious or cultural power, but to spread a message of love and salvation because they actually witnessed the most earth-shattering event in history. If it really happened, the powers of death and sin did not get the final word on Jesus and will not have the final word on anything attached to him. It means that all we face today, every political power or personal grief, will not in the end get the last word.
The resurrection power of Jesus is not like the small, common power to kill, which even a child can wield. It is altogether different, both hopeful and terrifying. It is the power to take what is irreversibly dead and make it indestructibly alive. If the resurrection is real, Jesus has begun to let this power loose in our world, so we can look forward to the fullness of it with deep hope.
Did it happen? Maybe a better question, does any part of you want this to be true? If so, then run like the women to worship Jesus, and find Him true.
Entering Conversation
We recognize that every small group has its own conversational dynamics. Feel free to use either set of questions below – or use your own! – in order to structure your talking together. As you do, remember that our goal, always, is not to end up with merely better knowledge of the teaching, but to help each other respond to what was taught.
1. Reflect back on what you heard in this sermon, or on the thoughts that have come afterwards. What stood out to you, either because it was new/interesting, or because you felt like the Spirit directed your attention to it?
2. What might it look like to respond in some way to what you heard? (NB – this is where community can be helpful. Sometimes we don’t know what to do with what we heard, but others can help us identify ways of responding. Be free to help each other, graciously and gently, listening for what the Spirit may be prompting.)
3. As you close your time, pray together, naming what you’ve discussed together and trusting it to the Father’s care.
OR
Feel free to use any of these:
1. As an icebreaker: What memories do you have of Easter as a child? What emotions do you remember feeling? What emotions do you feel now?
2. Hauerwas says we are formed by a naturalist culture without even choosing it. Do you think that is true? Do you think there are spaces in your life where you don’t believe God can or will act?
3. Everything we believe about the resurrection is because of witnesses. Who or what were the witnesses that you trusted when you believed in Jesus? Were they historical? Personal? Other?
4. If the resurrection means the death and evil (in all its forms) don’t get the last word, is there a specific situation in your life where you need that to be true? Even if you’re struggling to believe it?
Close your time in prayer, speaking with honesty to invite the Spirit to strengthen faith and renew joy in light of the resurrection.