Dear Church Friends,

According to a 2022 Lifeway Research poll(research.lifeway.com), 66% of U.S. adults and 90% of those who attend church regularly believe the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ physical resurrection are accurate.

Of this longstanding statistic, theologian Marcus Borg called this way of understanding Easter “a distraction.” (marcusjborg.org/posts-by-marcus/reflections-on-easter)
He explains, “To think that Easter intrinsically involves the transformation of Jesus’ corpse turns it into an utterly spectacular event that happened once upon a time long ago. This emphasis most often goes with the message that death is not the end for us, at least for those of us who believe in Jesus. As commonly understood, Easter it is about the promise of an afterlife.”

And he adds, “But, Easter is not primarily about Jesus’ triumph over death and a future for us beyond death. Rather, the meanings of the Easter stories in the gospels and the affirmation of Jesus’ resurrection in the rest of the New Testament are much more significant,… (and) twofold. First, Jesus lives; and second, Jesus is Lord.“

This means, he writes, that “Jesus is still loose in the world. He’s still out there, still here, still recruiting people to share his passion for the Kingdom of God – a transformed world here and now.”

And, he concludes, “To reduce it to a spectacular miracle a long time ago and a hope for an afterlife is to diminish it and domesticate it. It is not about heaven. It is about the transformation of this world. Jesus was killed because of his passion for a different kind of world. Easter is about God’s “Yes” to what we see in Jesus. Easter is not about
believing in a spectacular long ago event, but about participating in what we see in Jesus. Crucifixion and the tomb didn’t stop him. Easter is about saying “Yes” to the passion of Jesus. He’s still here, still recruiting…”

This is Marcus Borg whose book, Speaking Christian, some of us will be reading and discussing starting next Wednesday. But, what’s your understanding of – and your relationship to – Jesus’ resurrection? Is your Easter faith mainly about believing in what happened to Jesus and could happen to you when you die, or is it substantially about participating in Jesus’ vision, hope, and Way today?

Eastertide Blessings,
Ed