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resurrection: continued

New Justice

resurrectionThe diversity of interpretation of the resurrection in the New Testament has to do with the purpose for which Jesus’ resurrection was used. If a community were struggling to answer the Jewish question concerning the Law, then the emphasis was placed upon how the resurrection of Jesus revealed a New Justice (Acts 2:1-36). The earliest proclamation stressed how justice was not done in the specific case of Jesus of Nazareth but that in this miscarriage justice itself was transformed from law to grace. The offer of participating in God’s universal justice was available to all, including those who put Jesus to death. Jesus’ faithfulness to God, validated by his resurrection, replaced nationalistic works righteousness as the ground of hope. A new justice and a new people are created from the injustice done to Jesus of Nazareth.

Mission

As the early believers became convinced of the universal as opposed to the national message of the gospel, mission and resurrection were linked. From the earliest testimonies of the women at the tomb there is a direct link between resurrection and mission. Upon discovering the empty tomb the women were told to go and tell the disciples (Mark 16:7). Going and telling has forever been extrinsically linked to the resurrection; new creation and vocation are coupled. Later, when Paul spoke of the gospel he easily went between describing it as the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the resurrection. The appended resurrection appearance (John 21:1-14) associates the seaside encounter and miraculous catch with the original calling of the disciples. The inference was that the Galilean fishermen were still fishers of men and women; this missionary calling was reemphasized at the resurrection.

Lordship and Exaltation

In times of persecution, when the loyalty of the community was tested, the Lordship and Exaltation of Jesus in his Resurrection were emphasized. One of the first confessions of the Christian community was “Jesus is Lord.” While a direct affront to the political monopoly of the emperors, this confession also insinuated to the Jewish audience that Jesus was the expected king of the Jews from the Davidic lineage (Acts 2: 24-36). Here the resurrection becomes a sign that Jesus is the expected eschatological king.

Language of lordship and exaltation was by far the most dangerous and open to misunderstanding of descriptions of what had happened at the resurrection of Christ. Jesus himself steered clear of using it directly for fear that it would take on a military or political meaning as it usually did in Jewish apocalyptic. The image is reigned in by setting lordship beside images of suffering servanthood, epitomized by the figure of the lamb in Revelation. If Jesus was king, he was king in a very un-monarchial manner; if Jesus was exalted, he was lifted up first on a cross not a throne. Jesus is Lord became a confession of submission by the early community to authority as it is revealed in Christ. What was affirmed in the heart of Christian community was eschatologically expected to be a universal affirmation by all of creation (Philippians 2:8-10).

Eternal Life

At a later date, especially when the hopes for an imminent return of Christ were dashed and many of the early witnesses to the resurrection appearances were dying, the community began to ask questions about Eternal Life. Resurrection and a qualitative as well as quantitative life are connected in the Johannine tradition (John 11:21-27). The resurrection is not exclusively to be found in the future but is already here in the physical and spiritual life of the community of individuals who confessed Christ. Hope for the future is presaged by hope in this life and it is grounded in the resurrection of Christ.

Hope and Future

popup textDealing directly with the postponement of the second coming, some communities emphasized Hope and the Future of the kingdom in history. Eschatology stressed the new creation in distinction to Jewish apocalyptic, which emphasized the end of time. The destiny of the world was linked to the destiny of Christ as revealed in the resurrection. What is true of Christ is true of his followers (Hosea 6:2 and Romans 6, 8). Just as Jesus was raised, the believer could be confident of his own resurrection. Not only are people raised or liberated, creation itself participates in the new creation revealed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It would seem that the exodus is universalized in the resurrection and offered to all people.

These themes could be discussed without reference to the resurrection but placing them alongside this core conviction rooted community spirituality in an acknowledged in-breaking of God in history. The resurrection safeguarded faith from becoming a private belief or a cult of mystic participation. Resurrection faith implied belief in an act of God that gave rise to a community. Belief in the resurrection implied a discipleship that confirmed that something radically new had happened in history, that in fact the Kingdom has arrived in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and is confirmed by the formation of a community of resurrection that points toward the renewal of the world. This validation of the resurrection through evidence of the continued life of the Risen One in community and individual lives is superior to any historical validation through belief or probability.

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