Truth IS Stranger than Fiction
"Who has believed what we have heard, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed" Isaiah 53:1
As a sports fan, I have seen numerous "I won't have believed it if I hadn't seen it" moments over my life, ranging from the U.S.A. hockey "Miracle on Ice" in 1980 to the Villanova upset of Georgetown in the NCAA finals to Larry Mize's miracle chip to beat Greg Norman at the Master's to today second shot on the second playoff hole by Bubba Watson. Sometimes, such events occur outside the field of sports as well, such as the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya last summer or the raizing of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s.
All of the above pale in comparison to the story celebrated today. An itinerant preacher, abandoned to execution two days earlier, mysteriously left his grave as an angel guarded his forsworn linens and greeted first two astonished women, then two disciples. Over the next five weeks, he would appear to numerous people--and the impact of his appearance was unmistakable. Men who cowered in fear just days earlier boldly preached a message beyond comprehension and at no small risk to their freedom or even life. Massive crowds gathered in Jerusalem where he hung on a cross only days earlier without thought of time or personal wealth to hear the spectacular story.
I understand that many have heard this story beyond the point of boredom and am all too aware that Christians, myself definitely included, often fail to live up to teachings and life of Jesus. Our failings, however, do not change the truth beyond fiction of Easter and refusing to believe simply because his followers frequently can't get their act together goes beyond "cutting off your nose to spite your face."
As a sports fan, I have seen numerous "I won't have believed it if I hadn't seen it" moments over my life, ranging from the U.S.A. hockey "Miracle on Ice" in 1980 to the Villanova upset of Georgetown in the NCAA finals to Larry Mize's miracle chip to beat Greg Norman at the Master's to today second shot on the second playoff hole by Bubba Watson. Sometimes, such events occur outside the field of sports as well, such as the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya last summer or the raizing of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s.
All of the above pale in comparison to the story celebrated today. An itinerant preacher, abandoned to execution two days earlier, mysteriously left his grave as an angel guarded his forsworn linens and greeted first two astonished women, then two disciples. Over the next five weeks, he would appear to numerous people--and the impact of his appearance was unmistakable. Men who cowered in fear just days earlier boldly preached a message beyond comprehension and at no small risk to their freedom or even life. Massive crowds gathered in Jerusalem where he hung on a cross only days earlier without thought of time or personal wealth to hear the spectacular story.
I understand that many have heard this story beyond the point of boredom and am all too aware that Christians, myself definitely included, often fail to live up to teachings and life of Jesus. Our failings, however, do not change the truth beyond fiction of Easter and refusing to believe simply because his followers frequently can't get their act together goes beyond "cutting off your nose to spite your face."
posted by Dan Meyer at 7:19 PM
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