This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
— KJV; John 4:48
If we need miracles to believe, we have neither understanding nor belief.
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In “The Word Is The Bread of Life“, we elaborated on a position that we have expressed in several essays: that Christ’s Eternal Word is everything as relates to His Mission on Earth.
Christ made clear that the “living bread” He brought from Heaven was He Himself, and that we only partake of this bread, i.e. experience Him, through living His Word.
Resurrection: Core or Not?
The belief system of many Christians indicates that to them, the Crucifixion and Resurrection are what distinguish Christ from other prophets, teachers, or miracle workers.
What such people are saying, perhaps unconsciously, is that His Word is insufficient for them to recognise His Nature.
This idea is often supported by reference to passages like:
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead,
how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
— KJV; 1 Corinthians 15:12-14
Trying to use this and similar verses to place the Resurrection at the centre of Christ’s Mission or Message is wrong.
Paul was addressing an ongoing controversy about general resurrection (even among those who believed in Christ’s resurrection) in which questions like “How are the dead risen? With which body do they come?” were being asked.
He is saying that there must be a resurrection of some kind, a life after death, otherwise there is no spiritual reality and all is in vain.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
— 1 Corinthians 15:44
So, his focus is on the fact that resurrection should not be interpreted in a physical sense, a position which makes eminent sense to any clear thinker and is aligned with the essays in this series.
He is not saying “Christ is not Christ without the resurrection“.
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The Word Is Core
Christ did appear to His disciples after His earthly death, but if a Christian’s faith relies on this event (or similar seemingly-miraculous events), he lacks the understanding and experiencing of The Word that Christ demanded from His followers.
The Christian must live The Word:
He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him.
— KJV, John 14:21
…and then the Nature of Christ, as something far superior to any prophet or human being, will be revealed to him through experiences:
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona:
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
— Matt 16:17
If the resurrection is key to believing or understanding The Word, then Christ should not have expected or required His Word, His preaching, to be accepted by anyone. Everyone should just have been told to wait for His death. But on the other hand:
If they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.
— Luke 16:31
How much better are we if we need a resurrection to properly hear The Word in the first place?
If we are holding on to the Resurrection as fundamental to our Christianity we need to reexamine whether we have actually put The Word into practice or are merely following childhood habits (ref. “False Faiths, Part 1“) or a religious crowd (ref. “False Faiths, Part 2“).
Today’s Resolution:
- We will refocus on studying Christ’s Word ourselves with the intention of practicing It in order to experience Him and achieve genuine faith.
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