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Resurrection talesMonday, April 13, 2009
Acts 2:22-33 "But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it ... My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day ... but Jesus was not abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption.
"God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit that he received from the Father."
Because I'm a Christian I don't think Peter is crazy. Because I'm a Christian I take the story in Acts as an accurate reflection of historical events. And there are succinct, well-researched persuasive studies that argue the objective truth of Peter's account (for example, Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell and The Case for Christ and other books by Lee Strobel). But those arguments are not why I am a Christian. My own Christianity rests entirely on a personal experience with Jesus that anyone besides myself could refuse to accept. I could refuse to accept it myself, I suppose. But for me my experience passes beyond understanding, and it has been confirmed and renewed over and over in the thirty or so years since. Peter and Paul, the two main characters in the book of Acts, would have to say the same. Their preaching is passionate and personal, and they ask their listeners to move beyond the words they hear and seek Jesus' presence (the Holy Spirit) in their own lives. There really is no Christianity without that, and no way to avoid being a Christian with it.* Peter could be telling tall tales. He could be trying to raise enough money to feed the crew that night, or maybe spend the night in a good hotel. Quite a few preachers have done that and worse. Both the virgin birth and the non-death death of Jesus deserve the highest skepticism by anyone other than magical thinkers. It remains for Jesus to answer the tough questions himself. Come, Lord Jesus. Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, and the boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. You counsel me, and I praise you. You are at my right hand, and I will not be shaken. Even at night you instruct me, Lord. You have made my lot secure. * See Mark 3:29 for Jesus' comment about this. |
In not much more than an hour Peter had told curious people three times that he didn't even know Jesus. Now just a few weeks later he is asking his listeners to believe that he knew Jesus well enough to have seen him, touched him and watched him eat food after he had been dead for three days.