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The Story of
Jesus is a Challenging one Some of you may have had the opportunity over this past week to visit the art exhibition at St Augustine’s Church. Here is a picture of one of the paintings from this year’s St Augustine’s Lenten Art Exhibition. It depicts the women standing at the empty tomb. It is an etching by Penny Evans and reflects a pivotal event in the story of Jesus, namely that of his resurrection. The story of Jesus is a challenging one. It is challenging because it demands of us that we suspend our understanding of what is possible. His story begins with remarkable circumstances. 9 months prior to his birth we have angel making the annunciation that there is to be a virgin birth. Then the actual birth of the baby boy is accompanied by choirs of angels and most unusual stellar activity. His story ends in an equally challenging and remarkable way as we heard tell when the Gospel was read to us. The passage set for today picks up on the Resurrection story which concludes Jesus’ life on earth. The narrative begins fairly innocuously, on a rather practical note that fits neatly into our understanding of the possible and the normal. Let’s go over the details once again.... Two women friends of Jesus come to tend his grave. While they are doing so a violent earthquake occurs. And then the narrative seems to fly off into the realms of a reality that is way outside of most people’s experience. An angel comes down from heaven, looking like a snow white rod of lightning, rolls back the stone and sits on it. Not surprisingly all who witnessed this arrival shook uncontrollably with fear and or fainted from shock. The angel then proceeds to announce that the crucified, definitely dead Jesus, has risen from his dead state and is now alive again. He can in fact be found alive and well in Galilee, significantly, the place where his ministry was most successful. No long after this Jesus appears to the women and confirms the angel’s message. Not surprisingly, in the face of this evidence, the women fall down at Jesus feet and worship him as they would worship God himself. What a story! So the Christian narrative starts and finishes with two events that require us to believe what would in normal circumstances be unbelievable. Now if you were one of the authors of that time, trying to record the life and times of your hero, as Matthew was trying to do; trying to persuade the world that all Jesus stood for was true and sensible, then beginning and ending this way would not be the way to go. You run the risk that people will walk away from the story which seems so far- fetched. Yet there it is for all to read. One can only assume that these events must have really happened, difficult as they are to believe. Now sandwiched between these two extraordinary events of the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection, are many other stories and teachings and experiences which are much closer to our reality and which can mostly be explained and understood without too much difficulty. But here’s the thing, these two astounding events fall into a category that can only be understood and embraced on a faith level. We are not called to embrace only that which is easily believable. We are challenged to more. Christianity is not just a doctrine or philosophy. It is primarily a faith. And what do I mean by a faith level? In Hebrews 11:1 Paul offers us the best definition of faith I have ever encountered: Paul says that “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Heb. 11:1 By Faith I mean trusting God enough to let go of your own understanding of how things work in the world and letting yourself fall into the lap of God’s world and his purposes and plans. So it is a belief system you consciously choose. The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection brings us to a crucial cross road, excuse the pun. The word crucial comes from the word cross. In many ways the resurrection is the crucial platform on which the Christian faith, not its values, not its customs, but the Christian faith itself rests. We make a choice to believe, to be sure of what we hope for and certain of that which we cannot see or understand fully. It is a choice that faced the women at the tomb and the disciples who heard their story and it is a choice that faces us also as we hear their story. We choose to take the step of faith or we don’t. There are two responses to the Jesus story: A. Take the step of faith and believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came on a divine mission to save the world from death and all that sucks the life out of us, B. Or lean on human understanding and believe only the bits that can be easily comprehended with human logic and knowledge base, perhaps to say only that Jesus was a good man, a spiritual teacher who said some very good and worthwhile things about life. I’d like to draw your attention to a second painting from this year’s art exhibition. Mei Chen’s painting depicts the cross on which Jesus was crucified and down the centre of her painting is a line dividing the painting into two. I am not sure what Mei intended by this line, but for me it reflects these two choices. She might even have painted a cross on either side of the central line, for the crucifixion story tells us that there were two thieves crucified with Jesus, one on his left and one on his right. Faced with the presence of Jesus, one thief chose to deride and reject Jesus, while the other chose to take the leap of faith with those inimitable words, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Instantly the second thief received the reward of a faith in Jesus: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” The only thing that separated those two men and their destinies was the choice they each made. That was it! We are like those two thieves. We too have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Like them, the choice each of us makes, is what will make the difference to the outcome of our lives. The advantage is clear from Jesus’ words, for each of us, of taking the step of faith to believe in the Risen Christ and all that the resurrection represents: eternal life in Paradise. Well you might say: “I can only barely believe in something as extraordinary as the Resurrection.” Jesus reassures us that even a smidgeon of faith, the size of a mustard seed, is enough to get started.
Once we have made the choice to believe in him, our journey begins and
becomes one of prayer, Of studying the scriptures and of regularly setting time aside to gather for worship with the faithful, the body of Christ, the Church i.e. others who have made the same choice. I encourage you if you have not already chosen to believe in the Resurrected Christ, to take that step today and say with the thief on Jesus’ right: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” I am confident you will never look back. |
