Easter Sunday: Become What You Already Are

I am posting this a couple of days late, for a few reasons. The main reason is that the Internet was down at my apartment Saturday and Sunday. The other reason was that I was a little upset at what went on in the Easter service I attended, for reasons that I will not reveal. But, in any event:

Acts 10:34-43 OR Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; I Corinthians 15:1-11 OR Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18; Mark 16:1-8

Of course, I am going to select the Old Testament reading. During the Easter season, the OT gets short changed a little bit by the lectionary. But that's another matter. A few years ago I was taking a course in the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg, from one of the most influential teachers I've ever had, Craig Keen. The light finally came on for me when I suggested in class that Pannenberg's view was that, in the Resurrection, Jesus became, in the eyes of the disciples, what he had always been in the eyes of God. I think about that line, oddly enough, every time I see the old Disney movie The Lion King. This movie is based rather loosely on Hamlet, without, of course, most of the killing and the adultery and stuff, which wouldn't make a lot of sense for the kiddos.

In the Crucifixion, Jesus won the victory over sin's ultimate weapon. In the Resurrection, Jesus won the victory over death's ultimate weapon. The lectionary passages for Easter highlight that a new day has come. In the case of the identity of Jesus, he became in the eyes of his disciples what he already was. And in the extension of the offer of salvation to all of the world, the intention of God became in our eyes what it had always been. The Gospel lesson from John makes the same point. Thomas was not there when the disciples first saw Jesus, and he doubted, which has given him the unfortunate name "Doubting Thomas." Jesus chides Thomas for believing once he has finally seen, and then gives a promise that those who have not seen and yet have come to believe are blessed. That means us. And that means all who will hear the message because of us. Easter is a triumphant shout of victory, but it is also a battle cry. That Jesus was resurrected doesn't necessarily mean that we are blessed over against all the other great religions of the world, but it does mean that something new has happened. And when we see it, we recognize that this is the way it was supposed to be all along. Amen.