EASTER 2005
From the Editor... Because He Lives
“Just over a year
ago, the person I love most in the world was diagnosed as having
cancer.” So
began an article in 2003. I bet it got
your attention; it certainly did mine.
As a result of his
personal crisis, he had one question which pierced his heart like none
of the
others: “Will I see her again?”
To that crucial query
the church gave no helpful answer, and so he wrote a plea:
“We, the troubled
doubters, the open-minded agnostics, beg church leaders not to present
us with
watered-down dogma; not to pretend that it makes no difference whether
the
resurrection was Jesus’ actual return from death, or a transformation
of the
minds of the disciples.
“In the past 20
years, I have not heard a sermon preached about Easter, even on Easter
Day.
This suggests a general fear of discussing the resurrection, in case
such
discussion would indicate that it did not take place in a physical
sense.
“Did Jesus die and
then come back from the dead? Answering this question, not with a
straight
‘Yes’ or ‘No’, but with: ‘It depends what you mean . . .’ will not
help. The
next question, ‘Will I, or will I not, meet my loved ones again after
death?’
cannot be watered down.”
He is right, and
this brings us to a crucial truth about Easter.
The reason the early disciples had such faith that they would
have a
future life in the next world is that they saw Jesus resurrected in
this one.
His Easter assured them of theirs. His new and glorified body was the
beginning
of a whole new creation in which they shared.
“This Jesus, who was
taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him
go into
heaven" (Acts 1:11). And as
he
will come in the same way so we will be resurrected as he was. THIS was the faith the early disciples had
burrowed into them because of Easter; THIS bed-rock reality sustained
them
through horrible deaths such a crucifixion upside down.
“He is not
here; for he has risen” (Matthew 28:6)! Therefore we can say with firm
clarity
to a grieving friend who has lost a loved one, “you WILL see her again
in
glory. Jesus rose to new life and so did
she.” Alleluia and thanks be to God.
The
Rev. Canon Dr.
Kendall S. Harmon
Contact Dr
Harmon by
e-mail at ksharmon@mindspring.com
Return
to TAD menu