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2009-04-07 issue:

The mystery of resurrection

Mennonite Church USA

by James Schrag

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The resurrection of Christ is a mystery to me. I can’t explain it. Some people find it difficult to accept mystery. Over the years I have heard sermons and read articles that want to “prove” the resurrection. I have also seen long explanations about how the resurrection could not have happened. I have never been enticed to engage either side of these arguments. To me the resurrection remains a mystery—one upon which the church of Jesus Christ is founded. What does it mean for us to say that our foundations are made of mystery?

John 20 tells this mysterious, miraculous story. Two disciples rush to the tomb at the urging of Mary Magdalene. There they find the linen wrappings without the body. They see and believe, but they do not yet fully understand.

Mary stands weeping outside the tomb. Inside, two angels, one at the head and one at the foot, ask about her sorrow. Through her tears she laments that someone has stolen the body of her Lord. Presently she turns and sees Jesus but does not recognize him until he speaks her name.

At Jesus’ command, Mary brings this news to the other disciples. That evening, behind locked doors, Jesus appears to the cowering disciples and offers his peace. Now they also believe, except for Thomas, who is not with them. He demands proof, which he receives a week later.

Somewhere in that story, each of us can recognize ourselves. We make our own connection to the mystery of victory over death through Jesus Christ. Some of us, like Thomas, need proof. Some of us are so prone to lament losses that only the encouragement and instruction of angels can comfort. Some of us meet Jesus but only recognize him slowly or partially.

Many of us live in fear behind locked doors of security-seeking habits that isolate us. To all of us, the mystery of resurrection comes in the real presence of the Risen Lord.

The theme and text of our churchwide convention in Columbus this summer comes from this resurrection story (John 20:21-22). “Breathe and be filled” invites us to experience the presence of Jesus in the same room, even to feel his breath as we also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Is our church, founded on such mystery, only the sum of its parts? Are we only the logical result of something that happened in Europe 500 years ago? Are we simply enmeshed with and defined by our culture? Are the discouraging trends we read about ourselves—getting older and smaller—the only stuff of which we are made?

There is something tangible, something we understand all too well, that is required for the mystery of resurrection to occur. Death—and often suffering—is a prerequisite. We can understand life in the babe of Bethlehem, the one who came to bring life and bring it more abundantly. But that same Jesus who suffered, died and was raised on the third day confounds our sensibilities.

Life, death and resurrection speak of the divine plan for each of us. This same combination explains our experiences in many expressions of the church. All these are earthly realities. Maybe they are daily occurrences. But the mystery of them all is resurrection—something we know only through Jesus.

These times are challenging not just because the economy is sour and tottering, not only because there are too many marriages that fail or that there is too great a disparity between the rich and poor. The times are challenging because we assume our lot is made only of life and death. We forget that the mystery of resurrection in Jesus is for us, too.

James Schrag is executive director of Mennonite Church USA.