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Strange Things to our Ears ...

Tuesday, April 7, 2015. We have just been celebrating Easter. For us, it was a nice weekend at home with family and friends. Our daughter came back from some leisure activity - she has been taking part in a musical. Our son went away on Sunday to some friends in the UK. We had other friends visiting, did some hiking through the forest, the first barbecue of the year, and enjoyed some sunny days.

Strange Things …

At church we heard the Easter message on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday. It is about Jesus, about his death at the cross of Calvary 2000 years ago. And it is about his resurrection on the third day. In central Europe we are used to this message today - yet it remains a strange message.

Honestly, how do you deal with the Easter message? Are you attending church on some regular basis? Or perhaps you have given up on church issues. But whatever you do: what do you think about the resurrection? Does it sound strange to you? Does it sound acceptable or complete nonsense?

Even though I am a Christian, who does believe in Jesus (and there is a lot to say about this, it is just fantastic!), I am completely aware how strange the resurrection sounds to normal ears today. And it has been the same ever since: the resurrection is something where you start to say: wait a minute. People can talk about ideals and about faith - all fine. But when it comes to the resurrection, they will interrupt you, hesitate for a moment, shake their heads and go back to their routine. It is just enough. It is too strange. It is too marvelous. This is not a new phenomenon. If we look into the biblical book of Acts, where the apostle Paul spread the message of Jesus in ancient Greece and beyond, we hear similar things:

It is about the Presence …

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities” — because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” (Acts 17, 16-20)

When you hear some strange thing, you want to understand. You want to know, what it means. The people here react like this. It is completely reasonable. When you hear something, which usually does not happen, you will not immediately say: ah, fine. You will question it. You will ask. You want to know it in more detail. You want to confirm what you hear! Can you be sure about it?

Judgment about the resurrection is not easy. It is not something which you would bring to a conclusion nearby. Many people, and many scientists have tried to get it clear - without a definite answer. How do you clarify something, which has happened long ago in the past? But the resurrection of Jesus is not only something which took place in the past. The bible claims that he lives - even today. He does not run around any more, that is long gone. But he is here through his spirit. The living God is there around us - and in our life when we ask him to come to us! The Christian message is not just about the past, it is about the presence. (RWEP) ... more texts