In a recent study through the Apostles' Creed we noticed that the very midpoint - counting words - was the "the" in the phrase "He rose again from the dead." Whether by accident or design the Apostles' Creed has placed the assertion of Christ's resurrection at the very center of our faith.
But I proposed to my class that this is precisely the view of the Apostles (the real ones; not the legendary ones who supposedly wrote the creed named for them). The resurrection was the heart of their gospel preaching - how different from our approach today.
On Pentecost Peter gives the cross a brief nod saying only, "...and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death nailing Him to the cross," v.23. But the next several verses are a declaration and proof of Christ's resurrection ending with the statement, "God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact," v.32.
In Acts 3 (vv.12-15) Peter emphasizes this again saying, "You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this."
Note in these two passages Peter says they are witnesses not of the cross but of the resurrection. That Jesus died on a Roman cross was never in question. It was never a matter of dispute needing proof. Neither was it news which needed broadcasting. Literally hundreds of people saw His execution take place.
But what was really tremendous is that this Jesus rose from the dead; and that in turn added a dimension of meaning and significance to His death that was inconceivable at the time. (This focus on the resurrection continues in Peter's proclamation in Acts 4:10 and 5:29-30).
The Apostle Paul too puts the resurrection at the very center of the gospel saying to the Corinthians, "Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you... For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." 1Corinthians 15:1-4.
To preach the resurrection of Christ on one Sunday per year would have been incomprehensible to the apostles. Why do we do this? I can only guess that we do not understand its significance to the gospel. That it shows up on the preaching schedule only on Easter suggests that it is proclaimed simply as an historical event but without any theological understanding. Let's take a shot at gaining this understanding of the resurrection of Christ in the next few posts...
