Stephen
Terry, Director
Living
the Advent Hope
Commentary
for the September 14, 2019 Sabbath School Lesson
"If
Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" 1 Corinthians 15:17, NIV
Two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, the sun came up as
it had every day. The market stalls opened for business. The children played in
the streets. People talked about what they were going to do that day for work
or pleasure. Wives and mothers planned meals for their families and discussed
with their neighbors their hopes, dreams, fears and concerns. Except for the
usual concerns about illness, crime, and intrusions into their daily lives by
the occupying Romans or the Jewish rulers, they perhaps felt safe to assume
that everything would continue as it had for many centuries. Sacrifices would
continue to be offered daily in the Temple, and the annual round of high holy
days would repeat their cycle for the rest of their lives. But a young man was growing
to adulthood who would dramatically change everything.
Jesus, laboring with Joseph, a carpenter who married his
mother even though she was already pregnant with him, gave no sign of what was
to come. Apart from a keen mind,[i] nothing about his
appearance made him stand out as especially favored or attractive.[ii] Perhaps if we were to see
him as he actually was rather than as the beautiful person artists often portray,
we would turn away unimpressed. He labored on like this for three decades,
doing his part in the family business. His four brothers[iii] likely joined him in the
carpenter shop under their father's watchful eye. Eventually, Joseph died,
leaving his sons to carry on. When Jesus was about thirty, he left the
carpenter shop and the family home to begin an itinerant ministry. The Bible
does not say what prompted the change. The words of Jesus lead us to understand
that he believed the time had arrived for him to do what he was meant to do.
What was the catalytic event that pointed Jesus to
ministry? There are several possibilities. Perhaps since they did not view him
as a legitimate son of their father, his brothers pushed him from the family
business and left him impoverished. Another possibility is that his closeness
to his cousin, John, naturally drew him into ministry through John's example.
The events surrounding his baptism by John, including his time in the wilderness
set him on a course that would take him to Golgotha in a few short years.
Jesus was poor, and it is often from the poor that we
hear the strongest rebukes of the wealthy. He was also afflicted, and it is
often from those afflicted that we learn the greatest lessons of compassion. He
was persecuted, and taught profound lessons about the harm that judging others
causes, not only to them, but to us. His life, as portrayed in the Gospels, was
a marked contrast to everything commonly understood about religion and
righteousness. It still is. Many have professed to follow him through the
centuries, but very few have actually emulated his patience and compassion with
others. We too often get caught up in the business of religion and lose the
spirit of Christ in the process. Jesus forced no one to obey him. We, on the
other hand, tend to consider obedience to our received dogmatic perspectives as
the highest form of religious expression. He sought the lost sheep, but we are
the ones who often drove the sheep away in the first place. While there was no
shortage of those who wished to support his work,[iv] there is no record in the
Gospels of Jesus asking for money to do so. But today there is an endless demand
for money to support large, well-furnished buildings, expensive media
ministries, and state-of-the-art sound systems to promote belief in someone who
did not even own somewhere to lay his head.[v] The irony is unescapable.
All of this as remarkable as it may be is only a backdrop
for the most important aspect of Jesus ministry. According to the Gospels, the
disciples and centuries of Christian believers who followed, after Jesus was
crucified and died, he rose from the grave. That is a bold statement. It cannot
be partly true. It is either true or it is not. One might think of some
scientific explanations why he might not have been really dead. We hear of those
who are placed in medically induced comas to allow them time to heal. We hear
tales from people who believe they died and came back to life. But to our
knowledge, the technology for such comas did not exist then, and by every
indication Jesus had full control over his death and resurrection.[vi] This was something no one
had ever done before or has done since. The Apostle John understood that Jesus
claimed to be able to do this and did it because he is God incarnate.[vii] There is little doubt,
from historical accounts, that Jesus actually existed. Therefore the only
challenge then is whether or not he indeed rose from the dead. As Paul wrote to
the church in Corinth per the text at the top of this commentary, if the claim
is not true, then the whole Christian edifice tumbles down. Over the centuries,
believers have fought and died over the Eucharist and transubstantiation, baptism
by immersion or sprinkling, worshiping on Sabbath or on Sunday, but none of it
means anything without the resurrection. Without it, everything becomes an
exercise in futility. But if we claim a belief in the resurrection only to
sustain these other dogmas and with them a global religious empire, it remains
futile for doctrine must be informed by faith and not the other way around. We
don't accept the resurrection because we believe in the Parousia. Instead the
resurrection leads us to the possibility of the Second Advent.
That empty tomb foreshadows myriad empty tombs. It tells
us that when we die, we are not forgotten but remain precious to the mind of
God as we wait for the day that calls us forth. We are told that the trump of
God will sound loudly on that day.[viii] Then when the dead
rise, they will receive new, immortal, spiritual bodies.[ix] While many are confused
about this believing that they go immediately to heaven or hell at death, Paul
did not teach this, nor did any of the Disciples, including John, who probably
wrote more about Jesus' return than any other Bible writer. Nonetheless, as we
sleep, time passes unnoticed. For instance, when we fall asleep for surgery,
the very next thing we know is when the nurse is awakening us in the recovery
room. We have no knowledge as to whether the surgery lasted two hours or eight.
In the same way, if we sleep in death until Jesus returns, when the trumpet
sounds it may seem as if no time has passed at all and we are being taken to
heaven immediately after death. We will have no knowledge of our funeral, the
grave or crypt that was holding us or any other thing that happened between the
moment of our death and Jesus' return.
Some may have a strong attachment to the idea of the
dead becoming angels and floating about in heaven, playing harps and watching
our activities on earth, but maybe Grandma Mabel would not find heaven very
heavenly if she were to witness the struggles of her descendants dealing with
life's challenges and the tragedies that seem to come to every family. Sleep
may be merciful and compassionate compared to that, especially if the passage
of time can be ignored. Heaven should be a deliverance from the evils of this
world, not an opportunity to have a front row seat for tragedy.
The keystone for everything in the Bible is the empty
tomb. We can look at the Creation account and wrangle over whether it is
literal or metaphor. We can discuss what man's diet should be based on such
things. We can debate who wrote the Pentateuch and whether it is derived or
original. We can discuss the implications of ten laws engraved in stone and
whether or not they save us or only point us to the One who does. But something
happened two thousand years ago that is more important than any of that. The
feet of God, clad in sandals, trod the same earth that you and I walk upon. He
enjoyed cooked lamb and fish, just as you or I might. He attended parties like the
wedding feast at Cana and the feast that Zacchaeus threw for him.[x] And just like with
Zacchaeus, he changed lives. People who met him repented of the path they had
been on and began walking toward a God they may have barely acknowledged
before. This happened before the events of Passion Week. They were the first
fruits of many, many more to come. In order to raise that harvest the seed had
to first be planted in the ground. Seeds look dead and shriveled, but in them
is life that will come forth once planted. Jesus came forth from his tomb and
the harvest has never stopped coming since. One day it can take us to heaven.
It is up to us whether or not we want to be there. Like Zacchaeus, we can
choose to change our direction and be drawn by the light of heaven to something
better than we have ever known. I hope to see that day. Do you?
