Here's an essay I wrote this past Easter. It was printed in the editorials of The Niagara Gazette and Lewiston-Porter Sentinel (both local newspapers here in western New York). Easter: Not Just a Pleasant Story
The late American historian, U.B. Phillips once remarked that, “we do not live in the past, but the past in us.” Phillips was a keen observer of just how many of the cultural practices and traditions we take for granted today originated in times long ago. Of course, this point can be sometimes unexciting. Understanding the history of frankfurters and why they are with us today is bound to produce a nap. Researching the origins of curling as a sport could bring more serious consequences, perhaps a coma.
But in other areas, retracing the past can be both fascinating and very relevant personally. This time of year, we might look to the Easter holiday as a prime example. Of course, there will be much unexciting here, too: few of us care why egg hunts or the Easter bunny were ever dreamed up. But these are mostly extra, incidental aspects of the holiday, anyway. Most of us know that at its core, Easter is about the story of Jesus Christ, his death, and his resurrection from the dead. Granted, many become so busy with the surrounding festivities that they overlook these elements. But most are still aware of the central storyline.
What may be less apparent to many, though, is the potential importance of that storyline for each of us. For if true, it is not merely an inspiring ancient tale, but a real, historical event with eternal significance. Jesus taught that his death and resurrection were crucial. Humans, he said, have turned their backs on God through their rebelliousness and moral failure. They therefore deserve separation from God, which is death. Jesus, as God's divine son, promised to pay our debt by dying on our behalf and rising again. If we accept his gift, then we too will rise from death to eternal life.
With these considerations in mind, the question of whether the Easter story is historically accurate becomes vital to us all and therefore powerfully intriguing. More intriguing still are the findings that have persuaded both secular and Christian historians to answer that question with a resounding ‘yes.’
For instance, acclaimed resurrection scholar, Gary Habermas in his book, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus has noted that at least 75% of researchers agree that Jesus' tomb was found empty days after his burial. Historians have found that the empty tomb stories in the Gospels are totally unlike ancient legends in style. Such ancient fictions included fanciful tales of wonder and pomp. But the empty tomb accounts are straightforward and read like first-hand testimonies. They're history, not fantasy.
Scholars have also pondered this: if Jesus' body remained in the tomb, why didn't rival religious leaders reveal it to everyone while his followers proclaimed the resurrection throughout Jerusalem? This would have destroyed the Christian movement at its start therefore stamping out a serious threat to their power. The reason they didn't do so, say researchers, is that there was no body there to reveal.
Going further, Habermas observes that virtually all scholars admit that appearances of Jesus were seen for weeks following his crucifixion. We know the followers of Jesus who claimed to see these appearances were not lying, as most of them died as martyrs. But who would die for something they knew was a lie? Moreover, even enemies of Jesus like Saul of Tarsus and James reported seeing him. But surely they would not make up such claims so as to support a young Christian movement that they despised. Given these clues, atheist historian, Gerd Ludemann surprisingly confesses, "It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus' death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ."
The famed British scholar, N.T. Wright sums things up nicely in his classic text, The Resurrection of the Son of God. Wright explains that if Jesus never rose from death, then Christianity would never have survived past the first century. If Jesus simply died on the cross, his movement would have died with him. This occurred with all of the many first-century messianic pretenders before and after him. It was only Jesus’ movement that lived on and ultimately turned the Roman Empire upside down. Something extraordinary must have happened to prevent this group from dissolving like all the rest. That something extraordinary, says Wright, was the Resurrection.
This is just a sampling of evidences revealing the truth of the biblical stories about Christ. It was facts like these that persuaded even leading Jewish theologian, Pinchas Lapide to conclude that the God of Israel raised Jesus from death! Perhaps we can conclude the same.
Ultimately, the Easter story may not be merely something we celebrate annually on a March or April day. Indeed, our response to it may well determine the fate we experience once our earthly days are done.
