Saturday in the Octave of Easter

 Lectionary: 266

When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

Among the many influences of my formation in the 1950's was Jack Webb's insistent demand, "Just the facts, Ma'am." Detective Joe Friday was not interested in the victim's anguish or the perpetrator's apparent motives; he wanted only the "facts."  

In that halcyon age, journalism, police work, history, and the vast field of scientific research sought to arrange the known facts into plausible, useful theories that would explain what happens in the objective world. There is no need for opinions, prejudices, and beliefs. These bold discovers would detect the "real world" where humans exist but only as objects to be studied and analysed. Nothing in that world is touched by divine action; God should not play any part. "An act of God" explained what happened only when there were no other theories; but it did not suppose God actually exists or does anything. 

Many people still think that way, even in our post-modern, post-truth era. It is especially useful to those who would deny the Resurrection of Jesus. The gospels are delightfully confusing about the facts. What really happened? When? What was said? Who saw it? Were there many witnesses, or only a few? Why is there no consistent narrative?

Matthew and Mark suggest the Lord appeared to his disciples only in Galilee. Luke and John tell of his appearances in Jerusalem, especially in the Upper Room. Did he appear only occasionally and unexpectedly, for brief moments? Or did he remain with them as if he had never died at all, as Acts 1:3 seems to suggest? 

They ask but they get no answers. The gospels offer nothing more than anecdotal evidence of what really happened. Some believers have speculated that the empty tomb was a "fact." But what does an empty tomb prove? Only that it was empty. You'd be hard pressed to build a dynamic faith that would compel you to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth on that factoid. 

Of course, that skeptical, just-the-facts approach is flawed from the start; when you assume that God does not and should not act in our world, you cannot explain what God has actually done. 

Meanwhile, we the Church believe that the Son of Mary, Jesus of Nazareth, was crucified and buried; but rose from the dead and has been revealed as the Only Begotten Son of God. Nor could we build a religious faith without that "fact." As Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:14):

And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been raised,* your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

I say "the gospels are delightfully confusing" because, as we celebrate Easter we can only laugh at the conquered enemies who howl in protest. They cannot disprove our faith; not even the betrayal of Judas and countless subsequent betrayals in every level of the Church can dislodge our conviction that we are saved by the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of our Redeemer. If we cannot explain it, we don't need an explanation. 

Our joy, courage, generosity, and boundless patience are proof enough of God's action in our world. We have seen opponents of faith come, and we've seen them go. We heard their endless fuming. Their misconceived arguments that faith is not reasonable and doctrines are not facts cannot dissuade us from eager, obedient listening for the Spirit's guidance. Nor would we, for all the world, cease thanking God for calling us to freedom.