“Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who fall asleep.” ~1 Corinthians 15:20
St. Paul seldom leaves the message at the level of “believe this fact about Jesus.” He always moves it to “this is what it says about you!” or “this is what it says about history!” Until we are ourselves pulled into the equation, we find it hard to invest ourselves in a distant religious belief.
Paul normally speaks of “Christ”—which includes us and all of creation—for he never knew Jesus “in the flesh” but only as the eternal Body of Christ. Christ Crucified is all of the hidden, private, tragic pain of history made public and given over to God. Christ Resurrected is all suffering received, loved, and transformed by an All-Caring God. How else could we have any kind of cosmic hope? How else would we not die of sadness for what humanity has done to itself and to one another?
The cross is the standing statement of what we do to one another and to ourselves. The resurrection is the standing statement of what God does to us in return.
Richard Rohr, Easter 2012
In the Risen Christ, God reveals the final state of all reality. God forbids us to accept “as-it-is” in favor of “what-God’s-love-can-make-it.” To believe in Resurrection means to cross limits and transcend boundaries. Because of the promise of the Resurrection of Jesus we realistically can believe that tomorrow can be better than today. We are not bound by any past. There is a future that is created by God, and much bigger than our own efforts.
We should not just believe in some kind of survival or immortality or just “life after death”—but Resurrection, an utterly new creation, a transformation into Love that is promised as the final chapter of all history. That is why a true Christian has to be an optimist. In fact, if you are not an optimist, you haven’t got it yet.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Radical Grace: Daily Meditations
The voluntary self-gift of Jesus on the cross was his free acceptance of all creation in its weakness and imperfection. He chose to become a divine brother to humanity, and by giving himself to God totally, he invites all of his brothers and sisters with him into that same relationship of belonging. “Chosen in Christ from all eternity” is the way Ephesians puts it (1:4).
The raising up of Jesus (which is the correct way to say it) is the confirmation of God’s standing and universal relationship with what he created (“covenant love”). Jesus stands forever as our Promise, our Guarantee, and our Victory (1 Corinthians 1:30) of what God is doing everywhere and all the time. The only way you can absent yourself from this victory is to stand alone and apart. Inside communion you are forever safe and saved.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Radical Grace: Daily Meditations
