7th April, 2009

SIU FUNG WU

When I came to Australia 20 years ago I wondered why people kept asking the question: What is the true meaning of Christmas? As a convert from traditional Chinese religion, I had to learn what Christmas meant when I became a Christian. I had assumed that every Christian knew the meaning of Christmas - that is, it is about Jesus the Saviour and Lord, rather than Christmas presents or Santa. But later I realised that consumerism had a big influence on our culture. It is not surprising, therefore, that we got confused because we were constantly bombarded by all sorts of alternative messages about Christmas.

How about Easter? Do we know what Easter means? I think we do. We know that it is quite literally “a matter of death and life” (yes, I deliberately put “death” before “life”), for it is all about the death and resurrection of Jesus. But is this just another statement of faith that we intellectually confess? Or do we really know what it means? Let's dig deeper.

PICTURE: Soulbring (www.sxc.hu) "The offence of the message of the crucified Christ is its bold and counter-cultural claim against the basic idolatry of humanity."

The crucified Christ

In his first letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul speaks of his determination to preach the crucified Christ. He says: "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and wisdom of God". (I Corinthians 1:22-24; TNIV)

First century Jews looked for signs because they were expecting their God to send a powerful leader like Moses or David to deliver them from the hands of the Romans. They wanted God to do what He did in the Exodus story. That is, to use powerful and splendid signs to overcome their enemies. Jesus, however, did the very opposite. He died on a Roman cross, which was a symbol of shame and humiliation. Indeed, it was the means by which the Romans showed their superiority and control over the people they had conquered.

First century Greeks looked for wisdom because they were zealous for all kinds of learning. It was simply beyond human reasoning to think that the saviour of the world would be a weak and defeated criminal on a Roman cross. For the ancient Greeks, it was not right for the alleged saviour of the world to be dishonoured in public and suffer disgrace. Yet this is the type of saviour Paul proclaimed in his Gospel.

The offence of the message of the crucified Christ is its bold and counter-cultural claim against the basic idolatry of humanity. Professor Gordon Fee helpfully summaries how that basic idolatry of humankind looks like: "God must function as the all-powerful or the all-wise, but always in terms of our best interests - power in our behalf, wisdom like ours! For both the ultimate idolatry is that of insisting that God conform to our own prior views as to how “the God who makes sense” ought to do things." (Emphasis added)

We should not shy away from preaching the crucified Christ in our churches. As we reflect on the love of Christ during Easter, let us also remember that our way of life must model after Him. The Christian life is not about the pursuit of power and human wisdom. It is not about miraculous signs or a supreme philosophy that make us superior. Neither is it about an endless pursuit of blessings. Nor is it simply a matter of seeking peace and harmony. Instead, it is about following the Messiah, the Son of God - who humbled Himself, suffered and died on the cross, and was exalted to the highest place to the glory of God the Father (cf. Philippians 2:5-11). Deviating from proclaiming the crucified Christ and following His ways means that we slowly go down the path of fashioning God after our own image and hence the path of idolatry. But living out this basic truth means that authentic Christianity is preserved and that the church can truly bear witness to the Gospel.

The Christian hope

The Christian message has everything to do with the crucified Christ. But, on the other hand, this message is no good news if there is no resurrection. Later in his letter Paul painstakingly says that Christ has risen and that one day believers are to rise with Him (I Corinthians 15).

The Christian hope is not so much that there is a ticket to heaven, but that there will be a resurrection in which the followers of Jesus will live in God's presence. It would be hard to find in the Bible a passage that clearly says that the Gospel is about “our souls will go to heaven”. A casual reading of the book of Acts, for example, will find that the message of the early church was always that Christ had risen and that those who believed in Him would have eternal life.

The hope for Christians is not a disembodied heavenly bliss in the future. Instead, it is about a bodily resurrection. Just like the resurrected Christ who has a body, so will Christians at their resurrection. The Christian hope is not so much about a future otherworldly existence, so that one day we can escape from this world of turmoil and pain. It is, rather, about a blessed hope of new life at the final cosmic renewal that God has in store for his creation. It means that those who are suffering from emotional pain, chronic sickness, poverty, social injustice and relio-political oppression, have a genuine hope of fullness of life in the new heaven and new earth. It is because the risen Christ has destroyed the last enemy - that is, death itself (I Corinthians 15:26)! As Paul says: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 15:56-57)

Not only that there is hope and assurance for the future, the resurrection also means that we can experience God's power and grace in this present life. The Bible says that through Christ's resurrection we have a new life, are no longer under sin's mastery, and bear fruit for God (Romans 6:4, 9; 7:4).

In a real sense, eternal life has already begun for those who are in Christ. Our call is to walk by the Spirit, allow Him to change us and empower us to love one another sincerely from the heart (Galatians 5:16-26). Through the power of the Spirit we proclaim that Jesus is the true Lord of the world, as the disciples did in Acts. We proclaim that this Lord is over and above all the rulers, systems and structures in this world, and He demands justice and mercy for the poor and oppressed. One day He will come again for His own creation, and those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved through repentance and faith in Jesus. Let us proclaim this message - through our words and life - to a world that is out of joint and yearns to hear the good news of Easter.