I understand that not everyone believes in Jesus. Also true is that most every world religion acknowledges Jesus lived, breathed and walked this planet. Most also revere him as at the very least, a wise man; it\u2019s primarily his declaration as the Son of God some deny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality is we each have a right to believe what we want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality is also that just because we believe something doesn\u2019t make it true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve heard the denials. I\u2019ve heard the slams. Some are indeed fairly harsh. And in some ways I get it. Just like everyone else, Christians have done some stupid things. To be equally clear, many stupid things have also been done not<\/em> in the name of Jesus. We\u2019re all imperfect people, friends. That\u2019s an additional reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the reasons I\u2019m a Jesus follower is because of the resurrection\u2014 the meaning of this Easter day, Jesus coming back to life after dying on the cross two days prior. Suffice it to say, if true, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It thus begs the question: is the resurrection true? <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m no scholar. I\u2019m no fool nor Kool-aid drinker either. Here\u2019s what we know\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some 2,000 years ago, Jesus was a well-known figure in Israel. He was gruesomely crucified, died, and then buried. His burial site was known by many people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jewish and Roman sources both testify to an empty tomb. The body of Jesus was not there. All the Jewish authorities needed to do to put an end to Christianity was to produce the body of Jesus. But they didn\u2019t. They couldn\u2019t. In fact, not one historical record from the first or second century is written attacking the factuality of the empty tomb or claiming discovery of the corpse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s where Tom Anderson, former president of the California Trial Lawyers Association, gets my attention: \u201cLet\u2019s assume that the written accounts of His appearances to hundreds of people are false. I want to pose a question. With an event so well publicized, don\u2019t you think that it\u2019s reasonable that one historian, one eye witness, one antagonist would record for all time that he had seen Christ\u2019s body? … The silence of history is deafening when it comes to the testimony against the resurrection.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What gets me next is the changed lives of the people around him. It is recorded that while Jesus was on trial, his best friends deserted him in fear. I get that. This was against all cultural norms; we struggle with cultural norms still today. Sometimes our eyes are more on culture than on truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet 10 out of his 11 BFF\u2019S died as martyrs believing Jesus rose from the dead. They were willing to die\u2026 to give up their futures and entire lives because of what they witnessed. It doesn\u2019t take any ounce of rocket science to conclude only a very compelling event could account for such a convicted response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t claim being a Jesus follower never comes with any challenges. I don\u2019t claim all things always make sense. I also don\u2019t claim all Jesus followers reflect Jesus with perfection at all times. We don\u2019t. We can\u2019t. No one (other than Jesus) can claim any impeccable, moral high ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I refuse to let the people around me dictate what I think. In other words, who I believe Jesus to be isn\u2019t based on someone other than Jesus. It makes little sense to base it upon imperfect people, no matter how hard some of our experiences have notably been. Hence, when a Jesus follower acts in a way that doesn\u2019t seem kind, doesn\u2019t seem humble, doesn\u2019t feel full of generous mercy and grace, I don\u2019t allow such to cloud my thinking of the aforementioned historical reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I thus can\u2019t shake that resurrection. I can\u2019t shake the changed lives. And I can\u2019t dismiss that no one ever has done what Jesus has done. The bodies of all other religious leaders remain decaying in a tomb somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t write this, friends, with any arrogance or judgment. I also will repeatedly say that I am no scholar. I believe God gives us each a ton of grace to move toward him at our own pace, in our own time, in the ways that individually speak loudest and best \u2014 in the ways that most get our attention. Way too many of us \u2014 Christian or not \u2014 are way too judgmental, not respecting the differences in our lives, all those things God uses to get our attention. I wish we were better at that. I also believe our differences are purposeful and good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On this Easter, I’m humbly overwhelmed with the recognition that we\u2019re in this together. There are no disqualifiers. No matter who we are, what we’ve done, or how our faith or lack of it has played out thus far. It doesn\u2019t matter. It doesn\u2019t matter the adamancy of denial nor the vociferousness of the slams. Nothing changes that we\u2019re on this planet, figuring life and God out together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I understand that not everyone believes in Jesus. Also true is that most every world religion acknowledges Jesus lived, breathed and walked this planet. Most also revere him as at the very least, a wise man; it\u2019s primarily his declaration as the Son of God some deny. The reality is we each have a right … <\/p>\n