Ressurection

The Pastor said that the only way to heaven was to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior and to acknowledge that he rose from the dead. For me, that is not the way to heaven or the correct version of what I think Jesus wants from his Church. The Resurrection is mysterious and I believe that it’s meant to be. Einstein said that there is beauty in mystery and that is where the beauty of the Resurrection appears for me, in its mystery.
The best way I’ve heard the validity of the Resurrection described is that, whether you believe that Jesus rose from the dead or not, you must believe that something happened at his tomb on the Sunday after he was crucified. The vast social changes that Christianity brought to the world and the fact that so many people still believe today is a testament to the fact that something happened at the tomb Easter morning.
I have heard theories that the Resurrection is not meant to be a physical resurrection of the body. It has been described to me as the return of Jesus as a spirit, not as a ghost, but as a living spirit among living people. I do not know if I believe this, but I have thought about it a lot. My conclusion is that I have no conclusion at this point. I don’t know. I chalk it up to the mystery of the Resurrection, and that is where I find the beauty in it.
I personally believe in the Resurrection. Even though I believe, I relate to why it is hard for others to believe. Part of the problem is the reasoning behind the Resurrection that they, and I, have been subjected to. In Catholicism, there is not much else besides an authoritative “Of course he rose from the dead,” with tradition and scripture given as evidence. A Catholic discussion of whether or not the Resurrection was physical or spiritual has guided me, but it has not been the de facto reason I believe.
I have heard one Catholic tell another that they do not believe in the Resurrection and the believer has responded, “That’s okay, it’s hard to make the leap of faith. Jesus still loves you.” This Catholic response is part of the reason why I love the Catholic Church. The Evangelical or Protestant arguments I’ve heard for belief in the Resurrection have not convinced me. Their argument that it’s in the Bible, and God wrote the Bible so it’s true, does not justify the Resurrection for me. I believe that the Bible was divinely inspired, but I do not believe that the whole thing is meant to be taken literally. I believe that parts of the Bible were written as stories to describe God. A Pastor I met told me that his faith would be in vain if Jesus did not rise from the dead. My faith, however, would not be in vain. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, his message would be unchanged and I firmly believe his message made Jesus more divine than any miracle he performed. Love God and love your neighbor. As revolutionary today as it was then.
I have two reasons that have given me the courage to make the leap of faith to say that Jesus rose from the dead. The first is that I believe in miracles. I believe in the big ones and I believe in the small ones. I see the divine and God’s plan unfolding in a myriad of miracles that some may describe as coincidences. If I pray to get a hit while I’m batting in a softball game, is it because I believe in divine intervention, in miracles, or is it because of my own skill. No matter which you believe, the fact that I am praying for the miracle means that I believe in miracles. If I believe in miracles, then I can believe that the miracle of the Resurrection took place. To believe in small miracles, one must also accept that large miracles are possible.
The strongest argument I have for the Resurrection is the loving nature of God. The God that I know in my heart is the type of God that would resurrect Jesus. Rather than viewing the Resurrection as a triumph of God’s goodness over evil, I think of the Resurrection as proof of a God of love. I believe in a God that will vindicate a good man unjustly accused and punished.