Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
The good news that Jesus preached was that the time for the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham had arrived. And what was this promise?
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. It does not say, “And to descendants,” as referring to many, but as referring to one, “And to your descendant,” who is Christ (see Galatians 3:16).
Jesus himself was the fulfillment of the promise. He himself was the reason for the good news he proclaimed. He himself was that toward which all the prophets and righteous people looked with longing and holy desire.
For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it (see Matthew 13:17).
The faithful of God in times past trusted that his promises for restoration and renewal would one day be fulfilled, although they knew not how. They waited for Jesus, without knowing exactly that it was for him that they waited.
All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth (see Hebrews 11:13).
Yet the good news was not fully revealed simply in the preaching of Jesus. The Twelve and the women who were with him had not yet arrived at their ultimate destiny. They had to continue to follow him.
Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women
Their faith was not to rest on Jesus simply as divine preacher and healer. It would need to be drawn further, through the Passion, to the resurrection. The resurrection was the perfect fulfillment of the promise to the descendent of Abraham, the fulfillment of the promise to David, and the true unutterable hope of the prophets. It was what all faith desired without the faithful being able to articulate it.
Christianity only makes sense in light of the historical and physical resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Only in this way are all the promises of God fulfilled.
If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then neither has Christ been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith.
Jesus solved the deepest most intractable problems of the human condition, sin and death. He triumphed over death by his own death. His victory was revealed in the resurrection. He ended the the bondage of the human race of sin by dying to sin and letting us share in that death. He revealed the new life of the Spirit in his own resurrection. If Jesus were simply a preacher, or worse, simply a story or a poetic myth, he could not really affect the things in us that truly needed healing. For these things were literally as concrete and real as death itself.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.
Jesus does give us joy even in this life. But however great that joy, it is fleeting compared to the destiny his resurrection has unlocked for us.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave (see Song of Songs 8:6).
Let us widen our hope, singing together with the psalmist:
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.
No comments:
Post a Comment