What is the Meaning of Easter?
Easter is the most important Christian festival. It is also the most ancient, significantly older than Christmas. But, though there seems to have been no annual celebration of Easter in first-century Christianity, the proclamation “God raised Jesus” was central to Christianity from the beginning. Indeed, celebrating Sunday as the “Lord’s Day” reflects its importance.
Many—perhaps most—American Christians understand what happened at Easter as a “physical” event in which God miraculously transformed the corpse of Jesus, so that his tomb was found empty. “Empty tomb” and Easter go together. I call this a literal-factual understanding of Easter, naming its primary emphasis; the resurrection literally happened—it is a fact of history.
At least half of American Protestants belong to churches that insist on this understanding of Easter. It is consistent with their commitment to the Bible as the inerrant and literal Word of God. For many of these, the factuality of Easter proves that Jesus really was the Son of God. Also, for many, Easter is the defeat of death—not just for Jesus, but for all who believe in him.
And many in non-literalist churches also see Easter this way, or think they are supposed to, because they have not encountered an alternative understanding of Easter—other than skepticism. And so they think the literal-factual understanding of Easter is the only option.
But an alternative way of seeing the meaning of Easter does not focus on whether something spectacular happened to Jesus’ corpse. Rather than focusing on “what happened,” this approach focuses on the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament. What did it mean for his followers in the first century to say that God raised Jesus from the dead?
Here’s a “teaser” from my forthcoming Easter sermon on April 20th:
“What happened historically is that those who believed in Jesus before his execution continued to do so afterward. Easter is not about the start of a new faith but the continuation of an old one. Despite his crucifixion, Jesus was alive, present, and empowering them to do the work of the Kingdom still. That’s the only mystery and the only miracle … Of course, there may have been visions and trances. There are always such in every religion, and I’ve no reason to think that Paul was alone in his. But the basic reality is that those whom Jesus empowered as healers and invited around an open table kept his vision and program alive, and continued to experience his presence in that vision and program.
So, Easter means that the divine empowerment which was present in Jesus, but once upon a time limited to those people in Galilee and Judea who had contact with him, is now available to anyone, anywhere in the world, who finds God in Jesus … it has nothing to do, literally, with a body coming out of a tomb, or a tomb being found empty, or visions, or anything else. All those are dramatic ways of expressing the faith. The heart of resurrection is that the power of God is now available through Jesus, unconfined by time or space, to anyone who believes and experiences it.”
More to come!
Peace, Scott
Easter is the most important Christian festival. It is also the most ancient, significantly older than Christmas. But, though there seems to have been no annual celebration of Easter in first-century Christianity, the proclamation “God raised Jesus” was central to Christianity from the beginning. Indeed, celebrating Sunday as the “Lord’s Day” reflects its importance.
Many—perhaps most—American Christians understand what happened at Easter as a “physical” event in which God miraculously transformed the corpse of Jesus, so that his tomb was found empty. “Empty tomb” and Easter go together. I call this a literal-factual understanding of Easter, naming its primary emphasis; the resurrection literally happened—it is a fact of history.
At least half of American Protestants belong to churches that insist on this understanding of Easter. It is consistent with their commitment to the Bible as the inerrant and literal Word of God. For many of these, the factuality of Easter proves that Jesus really was the Son of God. Also, for many, Easter is the defeat of death—not just for Jesus, but for all who believe in him.
And many in non-literalist churches also see Easter this way, or think they are supposed to, because they have not encountered an alternative understanding of Easter—other than skepticism. And so they think the literal-factual understanding of Easter is the only option.
But an alternative way of seeing the meaning of Easter does not focus on whether something spectacular happened to Jesus’ corpse. Rather than focusing on “what happened,” this approach focuses on the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament. What did it mean for his followers in the first century to say that God raised Jesus from the dead?
Here’s a “teaser” from my forthcoming Easter sermon on April 20th:
“What happened historically is that those who believed in Jesus before his execution continued to do so afterward. Easter is not about the start of a new faith but the continuation of an old one. Despite his crucifixion, Jesus was alive, present, and empowering them to do the work of the Kingdom still. That’s the only mystery and the only miracle … Of course, there may have been visions and trances. There are always such in every religion, and I’ve no reason to think that Paul was alone in his. But the basic reality is that those whom Jesus empowered as healers and invited around an open table kept his vision and program alive, and continued to experience his presence in that vision and program.
So, Easter means that the divine empowerment which was present in Jesus, but once upon a time limited to those people in Galilee and Judea who had contact with him, is now available to anyone, anywhere in the world, who finds God in Jesus … it has nothing to do, literally, with a body coming out of a tomb, or a tomb being found empty, or visions, or anything else. All those are dramatic ways of expressing the faith. The heart of resurrection is that the power of God is now available through Jesus, unconfined by time or space, to anyone who believes and experiences it.”
More to come!
Peace, Scott
