Truth, Belief, and Resurrection
AM Psalm 136 • PM Psalm 118
Exod. 13:1-2, 11-16 • 1 Cor. 15:51-58 • Luke 24:1-12
In “Thinking about Easter,” Marcus J. Borg clarifies the difference between “resuscitation” and “resurrection.” [1] Resurrection requires “entry into another kind of existence, a level or realm that is beyond death.” Resuscitation, however, is “the reanimation of a corpse” (20). Although we don’t often hear those words juxtaposed, I believe that this difference accounts, at least in part, for the disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples, who feared Jesus came back as a “ghost.”
In Luke chapter 24, “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James” along with “other women” came to the apostles, in amazement that they had found Jesus’ tomb empty (v. 10). Strangely, to Jesus’ beloved inner circle “…these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (v.11). Despite all that Jesus had revealed to them about his mission and all the miraculous events they had witnessed (the resuscitation of Lazarus, for one), their humanity renders them “terrified” when at last they recognize the risen Lord. Surprisingly, perhaps, a few verses after this passage: Jesus seems not to understand why they doubted their eyes.
Moving along to 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58, Paul contrasts the physical and spiritual life as a “mystery” in which the “perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” Thus “Death has been swallowed up in victory,” a “victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv.54-57).
In his textual analysis “To Be Continued: The Many Endings of the Gospel of Mark,” Michael W. Holmes [2] discusses the nine different versions of Mark that have been identified, all dealing with the interaction among the apostles, the women who visited the tomb, and the risen Christ (29). This variation in ancient manuscripts reminds us of Jesus’ exchange with Pontius Pilate, who when confronted with Jesus’ claim that he is “witness to the truth,” asks the question that has reverberated through history: “Quid est veritas?” (Jn 8: 37): what is truth?
Another of today’s passages, Psalm 118, offers stirring words on belief that transcend quibbling about biblical history: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (v. 24)
[1] Borg, Marcus J. "Thinking About Easter." In Easter: Exploring the Resurrection of Jesus. Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society: 2010. pp. 20-22.
[2] In Easter: Exploring the Resurrection of Jesus, pp. 23-39.
Written by Pamela Mellott
My doctorate is in English Renaissance Literature from the University of California, Riverside, and the History of Medicine from UCLA. My husband, Kerby, and I have been part of St. Paul's community since our move to Fayetteville in September 2016, when Kerby retired from the University of California Medical Center in Orange, CA.