Magazine for April 2010
Resurrection
What did the Romans ever do for us? They gave us straight roads and aqueducts. They also had a gift for ruling ruthlessly – and the use of crucifixion was part of this. Crucifixion was designed to intimidate and quell potential opposition. The Romans were good at it. The description of Christ’s crucifixion tells us quite clearly that on Good Friday he quite definitely died. Crucifixion was designed to be slow and painful. If by some chance someone were to survive then they would be in a dreadful condition and would not be walking around three days later. The Christ seen on Easter Day had the marks of crucifixion of nails and spear but he was not a broken man – which would have been the case if he had only been a man. The evidence for Christ’s resurrection is quite compelling.
But the evidence goes even further. Doubting Thomas, or should we say rational Thomas, was not convinced. He believed that the other disciples saw what they wanted to see – you might say a form of mass hysteria or self-delusion. Yes, he was a reasonable man. He wanted solid proof and that is what he was given when he too met the risen Christ. Yes, the reasonable man recognised the truth: Christ had indeed risen from the dead. He was neither a ghost nor a broken man who had survived against the odds but he was one who had truly risen from the dead.
The message of Easter is of God’s triumph and his love for us. In Christ’s resurrection we see the power of sin and death permanently broken for those who accept him as their Saviour and that through Christ the gap between God and man has been bridged.
David Bradshaw