He is risen! He is risen indeed!

“He is risen.” These three words express the essence of Christian belief. These three words are our great confession of faith. Easter is our great celebration. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church put it very succinctly. “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is empty and your faith is in vain.”

The 20^th century, especially the last half, has seen an explosion of study in search for the Jesus of history. We have never had so many first rate Bible scholars and historians examining the Bible, documents surrounding the development of the Bible, and the history of the Jesus era. We now know much of the context in which Jesus lived and taught. We can now sift through the Bible records and with a high degree of confidence sort out what Jesus probably said from what later writers put in his mouth. We can place the things he said in context, and the words make sense. Bible scholarship moved out from the paternalism of Christian colleges and seminaries into top quality secular universities. Today’s best Bible scholarship is no longer bound by creedal statements, pronouncements by “holy” people or by theological statements by colleges, seminaries or churches.

This is Holy Week in the life of Christians. Christians celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, look seriously at the disturbance Jesus created in the Temple, ponder his last meal with his disciples, and scrutinize his sham trial. His horrific crucifixion is revisited. Most Bible scholars/historians accept these as actual historical events. Interpretations may vary and details may be argued, but these things in all probability really happened.

All of these things could have happened and few people would have taken note, except for the final event of Jesus’ week in Jerusalem. Religious messiahs appeared in Palestine in abundance. Jesus had gathered a substantial following in the area north of Jerusalem called Galilee. His followers were largely illiterate peasants. Scholars believe the literacy rate in Galilee was no more than three percent. The dedicated followers of Jesus were ignorant of the brutal realities of Jerusalem.

By the teachings of Jesus, primarily his parables and aphorisms, we know he challenged the authority of the Jewish religious establishment of Jerusalem. His activities in Jerusalem could be ignored until he went to the Temple courtyard. There he put on a street theatre type demonstration in the courtyard. This could not be ignored. His death was assured.

Death by crucifixion was common in Jerusalem. There was a good working relationship between Temple leaders and Roman officials. Crucifixion at the edge of the city was probably a daily occurrence ignored by the law-abiding people of Jerusalem. When Jesus was crucified, no religious significance was attached to it. Officials merely had gotten rid of another nuisance.

If the story ended there at the cross nothing would have changed. However, something did happen. Historians admit that something happened but cannot give a good explanation. The followers of Jesus quickly came to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead. The followers of Jesus were dramatically energized. Their energy flowed from a firm belief that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

We have no written record from any of his disciples or early followers. None of the writers of the gospels were contemporaries of Jesus. The four gospels were all written decades later after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple.

The first writing witness to the resurrection is Paul from Tarsus. He was convinced of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead when traveling on a road to Damascus. He was struck down by a bright light and heard the voice of Jesus. This happened some 15 years after the death of Jesus. By that time the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was firmly believed by a growing band of Jesus followers. Paul joined the movement and became its greatest missionary.

Historians cannot give any credence to the stories about the open tomb or Jesus’ reported appearances after resurrection. His reported disappearance into a cloud merely adds to the lack of historicity.

The resurrection cannot be embraced as history. HOWEVER, the belief of his early followers cannot be denied or explained away. Here is where the thinking of a devout Christian faces a challenge. Do we know the difference between verifiable history and belief in the non-historical nature of our central conviction that God raised Jesus from the dead?

Critical Bible scholars and historians have done the world a great favor in affirming the life and teachings of Jesus. However, they have nothing to contribute about our affirmations about our resurrected Jesus.

Jesus has been and is my life-long friend, companion and Lord. Crucifixion could not deny him life. I make every important decision in my life in front of an empty tomb.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.