We are witnesses of all that he did
both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible,
not to all the people, but to us,
the witnesses chosen by God in advance,
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
A technological age likes to boast of its amazing feats accumulated over thousands of years. We can point to Stonehenge, the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and Machu Pichu. These monuments of human ingenuity have outlasted centuries and, despite our cleverness, might survive the greatest structures of this present age.
Less admiration is bestowed on those institutions built upon the willingness of humans to sustain them from one generation to the next. In the late 1960’s we wondered if any project could leap across the generation gap from the children of the Great Depression to the Baby Boom. Despite their obvious familial connections, their life experiences and values were substantially different.
Certainly when the Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers conspired to crucify Jesus, they supposed his disciples would scatter, his energy would dissipate, and his name would be forgotten. That’s how the system worked, and it was good. Why would anyone remember or admire, much less worship, a crucified criminal? The less said of him, the better!
Oddly, that’s not what happened. No sooner had the troubled city, exhausted by a spasm of rioting and a cathartic crucifixion, awoke on the day after the Passover Sabbath than they heard rumors that the dead man was alive. His body was not in its tomb and the authorities could not locate it.
By Pentecost his scattered disciples had regrouped. They soon began preaching a New Way of salvation, reconciliation, and peace built upon the word of witnesses to his resurrection. Jesus, they insisted, has not been merely resuscitated after a near-fatal incident. No, he was truly dead. And has now been raised to life. More than that, the one we knew as a man is the Eternal God. We have seen his glory!
And so it began; and so it continues. If the pyramids sit in the Egyptian desert for another million years, they will outlast neither the Word of God nor the Church which announces it.
This is not something human generations can do. We forget things quickly. If we treasure any memories, we also alter them to fit our current beliefs, expectations, and needs. We’re often astonished at the ways of the past and how memories were kept. Not long ago, the best minds proved the superiority of the European “race.” Today, we’re disgusted by such arrogance. There is no such thing as race! Nor can they be ranked!
As we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, we thank God for the Holy Spirit which inspires sons and daughters of every generation, and faithfully teaches them to see with the eyes of faith what the Apostles saw with their own eyes. Our monuments of the best stone will disintegrate under the ravages of wind and rain, but the Word of God and the Church abide forever.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.