Marva Dawn

EASTER

The Resurrection is the center of our faith; it changes EVERYTHING.

But now, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of the ones having fallen asleep. I Corinthians 15:20

Everything hinges on the resurrection. If there is no resurrection, we might as well give everything up... But if there is a resurrection from the dead, then all heaven breaks loose....

Let us look carefully at the progression of Paul's argument [in I Corinthians 15:12-20], so that its good news can surprise us again with the wonder of it all....

In a more literal rendering of the original Greek, verse 12 begins, "But if Christ is being preached as having been raised from the dead, how can certain ones among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?" Do people understand the implications? ... [Earlier in I Corinthians 15, verses 1-8] list all those who saw Jesus after his resurrection, and Paul noted that many who saw the Christ were still alive and could testify to the accuracy of Paul's list.... How, then, can you doubt your own resurrection?

Now Paul embarks on a spiraling progression: "and if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised" [13]. If you don't believe God is capable of raising the dead, then do you doubt that he raised Jesus?

Furthermore, "if Christ has not been raised, then also our preaching [is] foolish" [14a] -- without result, without purpose, untrue, vain. If we doubt that Christ has been raised, then our preaching makes no sense -- it is ludicrous, pointless, meaningless, worthless, downright false.

Moreover, "foolish [is] your faith" [14b]. It, too, is without result, without purpose, untrue, vain. Why be deceived? Why believe illusions? Why bother? Why come mess with this Christianity stuff if Christ be not raised?

In addition, "we are [then] found also [to be] testifying falsely of God, for we testified of God that he raised the Christ, whom he did not raise if it be [true] that the dead are not raised" [15]. This is getting even worse: we are caught lying about God! Everything we understand about God hinges on his fulfillment of the promise to raise Jesus -- all of God's promises to his covenant people culminate in this one.

Again, "if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised" [16]. Paul repeats this phrase, with a slight variation, to lead us into the next round of the spiral --

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith -- groundless, fallacious; you are yet in your sins" [17]. The absence of a verb in the description of our faith stresses that not only is your faith without foundation, not only is it false -- but if Christ has not been raised, you are stuck with yourself, with your inability to be who you want to be, with your not being able to say, do, or think what you wish you could. If Christ is not raised, you cannot be delivered from yourself.

"Consequently also the ones having fallen asleep in Christ have perished" [18]. They are utterly destroyed. The repercussions are getting more and more dire. Think about the implications if those who have died are not with God, as we have thought.

All these phrases Paul has stacked up, all these spiraling ramifications, culminate in this last remark of the case: "If for this life only we have been brought to hope, we are of all human beings most to be pitied" [19]. If we hope only for what good we can experience in this life, then how wretched and miserable it is, for this life is full of inconveniences, frustrations, bad experiences, blatant evil, undeserved suffering, profound tragedies. Does our faith only invite us to those? Is there no greater hope?

Are we left only with the warnings and exploded promises? Is there no good news?

"BUT NOW," Paul says ... -- two of his best words in the biblical vocabulary; they signal a dramatic change. "BUT NOW, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of the ones having fallen asleep" [20].... That changes EVERYTHING! Christ is risen

so we do know that we, too, shall be raised;

we do know that our preaching is not meaningless;

we do know that our faith is not in vain;

we do know that what we have learned about God can be trusted;

we do know that those who have died are alive in Christ;

we do know that suffering and sorrow are not the last word;

we do know that there is a solid foundation to our faith;

we do know that there is a joyous reason to be here [worshiping] to celebrate our resurrection;

we do know that we are not wretched, pitiable; instead we have the best news to share, the best news in all the world: we are home free.

we do know that, no matter who or what we are, God welcomes us into this story, this hope, this love, this forgiveness, this new life, this resurrection, this Joy!

Glorious Christ, please help us never to lose the wonder that you are indeed raised from the dead. Fill us with Joy and eagerness to share this good news with the world.... Amen.

This meditation is taken from Marva's A Royal "Waste" of Time, pp. 161-163.