…they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. -Matthew 28:8-9
The spiritual journey often involves the interplay of fear and great joy. We may sincerely desire to surrender to the upwelling of great joy we have experienced, but fear may hold us back for any number of reasons. Sometimes that fear, or hesitancy to simply fall at the feet of Jesus and worship him is because it may come at a cost, which evokes fear in us. What will my family think? Am I crazy to be doing this? How does worshipping Jesus change the way I currently live my life?
A few days ago I spoke to a friend of mine who is new to military chaplaincy. He told me about a conversation he had in a training setting where he was one of the students. A fellow student who knew he was the new chaplain assigned to their unit told him that she really doesn’t like Christians because Christianity ruined the classical development of the Western world. My friend went on to explain the intensity of this other person’s disgust with Christianity and her insistence that he read a book she was convinced would change his mind from the fanciful superstitions he had come to believe. He agreed to read the book - with one condition - that she read one book he recommended and they meet to discuss both books. I admit I look forward to hearing how the subsequent conversation goes between the two.
My friend said about the encounter, “She had such passion for the topic, if only her heart could be lit on fire by the Gospel.” I look forward to hearing more about the conversation. Fundamentally, however, when all the layers of philosophical ideas are covered - when we search to understand the great questions of life that have been considered over the millennia, we must ask ourselves along the way if Jesus was actually risen from the dead or not.
The entire weight of the Gospel rests on one key point: Did the resurrection of Jesus really happen?
Peter didn’t preach fuzzy ideas about the dawning of a new day, a new sunrise and all will be well – as wonderful and true as those ideas may be. Paul, a former enemy of the early Christian movement, didn’t go into Gentile territories and risk his life to advocate for what we would describe today as new-age spirituality. He, like Peter, proclaimed that Jesus, who was alive and walked in their midst was also crucified and was killed. That same man was resurrected in body and left the gift of the Holy Spirit for all of us to know him eternally.
The passion and zeal of the woman my chaplain friend met was lovely and, no doubt is grounded in many truth assertions of the Classics. The great fullness of the truth she is seeking, however, will only be found in the radical self-giving love of God. The truth of the resurrection doesn’t make anything that is true wrong. Christ fulfills truth and makes it accessible through faith in Him. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him, as Saint John wrote.
In the midst of all the philosophical debates, as wonderful as they are, there remains one essential question to consider, because it gets to a central point of the entire Christian narrative. Either Jesus is alive or he isn’t. If he isn’t, it’s all rubbish and we should all give up all this nonsensical foolishness and either find a new religion or abandon all religions. Saint Paul said it this way to the Corinthians, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. " But if he is alive, everything changes.
He is risen! Alleluia! And that causes me fear and great joy.
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