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Easter day
He rose out of obscurity and made a tremendous impact on his nation. Crowds of people gathered wherever he was, fascinated by him. The authorities felt threatened; it seemed like all the old ways were up for grabs. Families quarrelled over what he did. Those devoted to him sensed that a new era had begun.
Then, well before he reached old age, he met a tragic death. His abused body was laid to rest. All the joys he brought, all the release and new life, came to a crashing end. Those closest to him were lost in grief. So were many others.
But reports started to circulate that he was alive again. People familiar with his appearance saw him in one place, then another. He always took them by surprise, utterly by surprise.
Who is this, who had such a tremendous impact, died before his time, but was reported alive again?
Well, actually, I’m not talking about Jesus Christ,
but Elvis Presley!
He was once a cause for national controversy.
He came to a terrible, pathetic end.
And now stories keep circulating that he has come back from the dead.
The so-called appearances of Elvis raise questions for us.
What difference is there between a risen Elvis and a risen Jesus?
Is the Man from Mississippi on a par with the Man from Galilee because both are said to have come back from the dead?
Can we dismiss the Elvis reports and keep the Easter story?
The answers, I think, are to be found in the experience of Easter and the difference it makes to our lives.
The tomb of Jesus is found to be empty. And even with all the science and technology at our disposal, nobody has been able to produce his body.
As far as anyone knows, there is no serious claim that Elvis’ tomb is empty, and no one has bothered to check.
The Elvis who is sighted every now and then seems to make no more than a visual impression.
The risen Christ, however, invites the inspection of his wounds, eats and drinks with his disciples, and organizes his followers for their mission.
The Elvis who appears looks like a memory from the past.
The Christ who appears acts as a force for the future.
The Elvis appearances leave people astonished but unchanged. Encounters with the risen Christ turn lives around.
This transformation occurred in the first century.
Think about the cowardly, quarrelling disciples.
So often when we meet them in the gospels they simply don’t understand, they continually fail to grasp the point of Jesus’ teaching and miracles, and in the hours following his death they simply don’t know what to do.
But through their experience of the resurrection, through their encounters with the risen Christ, they became transformed, brave and united, deeply perceptive,
and able to act decisively.
The resurrection happens not only to Jesus, but, in a way, to his disciples as well. They are lifted from the narrow tomb of their former existence and thrust into the sunlight of a spacious life.
This resurrection process has never stopped happening since that first Easter Day.
People continue to be transformed.
The places where they were once wounded become sources of strength, for grace has done its healing work.
The return of Elvis brings with it no gift of forgiveness.
He was his own victim.
But Christ submits to a world of insults and indignities heaped upon him, punishments undeserved, and so builds a bridge between our sinful lives and the utter holiness of God.
This Jesus refuses to remain only a victim.
Still marked by the wounds of the cross, the risen Lord appears in the midst of his disciples, offering forgiveness to them and tells them to pass on this gift to others,
and we stand in their place today.
So the resurrection of Christ is no isolated event,
no freakish wonder for the tabloids.
But the resurrection of Christ declares that our separation from God, our alienation from each other, our subservience to death—all are overcome by a power that knows no equal.
I wonder why these stories about Elvis keep cropping up when he is a dead legend who can help nobody?
The truth is that everyone has the need for a saviour, and if they don’t meet the Good News of Jesus lived out in the Christian community, then they’ll look elsewhere.
People may be overcome by fantasies of a dead celebrity come back from the dead. But their lives will remain untouched, unaided, unchanged.
In fact their pursuit of such a fantasy is something which may ultimately destroy them.
There is one saviour whose tomb is empty.
There is one who offers us the Easter experience.
In the risen Christ we find forgiveness, transformation,
and a high purpose for our lives.
Jesus himself is the Easter experience available to us today
and in the days to come.
His resurrection is not an idle tale.
It is not even just barefaced fact.
His resurrection is something more:
its a vibrant reality, a force for the future.
Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia! |