Is the Resurrection for Real?

Mike Baughman

I spent a couple days recently with a friend who had been a victim of domestic violence. Her kids are happy. She is safe and grounded and good. Resurrection is real.

Those damn ants that I thought I had gotten rid of last fall have emerged from the cracks in my home. Resurrection is real (even when I don't want it to be).

I saw a widow laugh yesterday. Resurrection is real.

My daughter turns five this week. As an infant her heart was stopped for hours as they operated. Resurrection is real.

Life is persistent. The resurrection is real.

The Rev. Mike Baughman serves as an Associate Pastor at Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano, TX. He blogs at https://www.ireverant.wordpress.com.

Bruce Epperly

Resurrection happens—now and in the first century! I believe that those who encountered the Risen Jesus experienced something real that transcended body and spirit; indeed, a holistic event, encompassing the whole of life and embodying the spirit of Jesus' healings, teachings, and hospitality. Not a hallucination or reducible to flesh and bones, a revived corpse, or disembodied spirit, resurrection is dynamic, energetic, and whole-person. To say "Christ is Risen" is to claim a world in which wonders occur, lives are transformed, and rebirth always a possibility. Christ is alive—in Galilee and our lives, guiding and healing, touching and transforming, and giving new life. Hallelujah!

Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, and author. He blogs at Living A Holy Adventure and writes a weekly column for pastors at Patheos. Read Bruce's "Celebrating Resurrection" piece here.

David Henson

I wonder whether our human need for Easter—for a sign to legitimate the Good News—is what makes the resurrection essential to the Christian faith. And I question whether the resurrection should be such a theological lynchpin that the slightest doubt topples the whole thing and makes Christian objects of pity. Doubt and disbelief are important to the Easter experience in the Gospels, and Jesus does not condemn his disciples for them. If we want to experience the resurrection, I suggest that we not simply celebrate it or find joy and hope in it. We must doubt it, too. We must admit our disbelief. 

David Henson is a writer who lives in Augusta, Georgia, and is currently working on a novel. He blogs at Unorthodoxology. Read David's meditations on Holy Week here.