Why Resurrection?
Why is it so important to Christians that we profess faith in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Many aspects of that reality could be discussed, because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are right there at the very heart of our faith. However, there is an aspect that most speaks to today’s world. We’ll have to delve a bit into something of philosophy to work through this. Hopefully, delving in will shed some light.
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The Resurrection Brings Clarity on the Death Question
Throughout recorded human history, people have tried to answer the “death question.” What happens after we die? Most of the time, we’ve settled on one of three answers: Up, Middle, or Down. We either go down to some lower netherworld or dissolve into this earth. Alternatively, we go into a spiritual world. Whatever answer a culture or group chose would affect their views of and treatment of themselves and other human beings.
After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, with the preaching of the apostles, came a unique new understanding. This understanding was a development of earlier Jewish beliefs, but understood in a uniquely Christ-centered way. The basic teaching was that all three of those options are true.
Jesus’ Body: Uniquely Divine & Human
Jesus went to the dead, he went into the earth, and he ascended into heaven. He has a resurrected body, rather than just being a spirit. People found it odd because Jesus had a body, and yet went to the spirit world at the same time. The two came together. The Christian belief is that Jesus’ resurrection was the “first fruits” (Revelation 1:5) of the great resurrection of those who have faith in him. Heaven and earth will merge. The resurrected will have “spiritual bodies.”
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
They taught that some will be resurrected to “damnation.” Damnation is separation from God. Because there is a warning here of two states of resurrected being, this led to the understanding of individual human choice or conscience. This belief is important not only because it points to the future while speaking about the present resurrection-centered reality.
As Charles Taylor indicates in A Secular Age, Western Christian culture was founded on this resurrection theology. However, it didn’t fully understand its implications until the early Middle Ages. People began to see themselves and others as individual persons when the focus was on Jesus Christ. They contemplated eternity with God or apart from God. They began to see individual conscience as a reality. And as they studied nature, they began to see nature as distinct from God. Not apart from God’s presence but as a “thing itself” to be studied.
This, of course, eventually gave rise to the sciences, democracy, and the idea that each individual is fully human and has a special dignity. It also eventually led to a world in which atheism and materialism are possible. Some people rejected God but “kept” nature.
Resurrection: Beautiful Fruit
However, the beauty of resurrection theology is that it led to hospitals, psychology, and peace movements just as much as it led to worship, art, and music. The belief in a bodily, individual resurrection opened up our minds. It highlighted the importance of these things in an eternal way. All of this leads to the answer to our question. Why is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ so important to Christians today?
It is important because it is the symbol and center point of human healing, wholeness, and flourishing. The resurrection constantly points us back to the reality of our humanness as body, mind, and spirit. It vividly demonstrates the dignity of each human being and the eternal nature of mankind. It calls us to care for the earth and its living creatures, and to care for each other. The resurrection keeps us from dividing heaven and earth. It keeps us from moving toward either escapism or materialism. If you remove the resurrection from the equation, you end up having to choose once again between the ancient three options. This choice is a state of mind that paralyzes mankind for thousands of years.
Resurrection: A Non-Negotiable Bedrock of the Faith
When St. Paul said that we would be “of all men most foolish” (1 Corinthians 1:18) if Jesus did not indeed rise from the dead, he didn’t mean just that we would have egg on our faces. Instead, he meant that all mankind would be in trouble without the resurrection. The world would not have Jesus to look to. The world-transforming power of a vision of bodily, spiritual resurrection would be lost. It wouldn’t just affect Christians, but it would affect the whole human race.
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not some arcane doctrinal point that must be confessed to be considered a Christian. It is the very heart and soul of the Christian religion, and it affects everything. Each Easter, when we confess, “Alleluia! He is Risen!” we are confessing the mystery of our faith. Simultaneously, we affirm the eternal dignity of the human person.
Photo by: Cody Hiscox on Unsplash
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