Challenging Christ's Resurrection

The glorious truth of the Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead will again thrill the spirits of countless believers throughout the world this month, and well it may! For as Paul wrote to first-century believers in the Church of God in Corinth, '... if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable' (1 Cor. 15:16-19); so far-reaching would have been the consequences. However, the apostle follows on with the clearcut assertion: 'But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep' (15:20).

Paul's own experiences had provided resounding confirmation of this vital fact. It was as though divine strategy deliberately allowed the zealous young Pharisee to pursue his ferocious persecution of the Church of God in Jerusalem for some time. Then summarily on the road to Damascus Saul of Tarsus was confronted with the risen Christ. Humbled, blinded, convicted, he was led by the hand into the city. His witness to the resurrection of the One he had persecuted would have profound effects among his contemporaries and upon every succeeding generation. Yet the majority of his own Jewish people were hardened against acceptance of his testimony, causing him 'great sorrow and unceasing pain' in his heart (Rom. 9:2). 'At this present time', he wrote, 'there is a remnant according to the election of grace ... and the rest were hardened' (Rom. 11:5,7). And when his commission took him 'far hence unto the Gentiles', he still encountered mockery as be testified to the resurrection of the dead (Acts 17:32).

How fully Satan recognizes the central importance to the Christian faith of Christ's resurrection from the dead! Right at the outset, as 'the father of lies', he moved Israel's leaders to circulate the false explanation that 'His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept' (Mat. 28:13). Deceptive heresies have multiplied, all aimed at discrediting the great truth on which our Christian hope depends. Ironically, it is nominally Christian theological scholars who have in recent times been prominent in undermining the truth of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus. They argue that the Gospel accounts of Christ's rising are meant to be understood metaphorically. Jesus was resurrected, they say, in the lives and dreams of His followers; not in a physical body. 'The Resurrection (of Christ) represents an explosion of spiritual power, a promise of salvation that does not depend on belief in a literal resurrection'. It would seem that in divine foreknowledge the Holy Spirit anticipated such subtly conceived deceptions. For the physical nature of Christ's resurrection is specifically emphasized in the Gospels. 'See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself,' Jesus said, 'handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold Me having' (Luke 24:39).

One group of 'liberal' academics in the United States has assumed the title of the 'Jesus Seminar'. It was initiated by Robert W. Funk, a former Protestant clergyman, who now leads what is described as a 'Bible Think Tank' at the Westar Institute. In coordinating the activities of the 'Jesus Seminar', he arranges for consideration of various Bible topics by a circle of 'eminent scholars'. When time has been allowed for study, the relevant Bible events are put to a vote. A white plastic container is passed around, and each scholar drops in a coloured marble: black if certain the event was untrue; grey if it was probably untrue; pink if it might possibly have occurred; red if it was certainly true. Press reporters are invited to cover the event, with a view to wide publicity. The consensus arrived at regarding the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was that the Gospel accounts represented a poetic rendering of a devout wish, but certainly not an authentic record. This finding of course raised a storm of protest from a wide spectrum of Christian academics, who questioned the status of the self-styled 'Jesus Seminar', and challenged the quality of scholarship which could arrive at a conclusion so contrary to the scriptural evidence. However, the existence of such a group illustrates the lengths to which Satan has gone in promoting the denial of this vital Bible truth.

How thankful we feel to be able to share the Spirit-implanted conviction expressed by an eye-witness of Christ's resurrection:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3).

unknown | Apr 1996
Focus