The Scandal of the Particular

I’ve never met more of a skeptic than me. I question everything. My usual response to most theories or questionable events is, “I’m not calling you a liar, but I just don’t believe you.” I’m a skeptic.

Recently a blockbuster movie hit the main stage causing interesting discussion and influence – The Book of Eli. Everyone I know loves this movie. Well respected, intelligent people that speak truth and love into my life all love this movie. But I can’t stop questioning it. I can’t stop doubting it. I just don’t believe it could really happen.

Denzel Washington survives a nuclear war and is on a mission to walk from one end of the United States to the other -- because God told him to. He encounters helpers and villains along the way. By the end of the movie he has one last battle to get where he is going.

But there is a humongous twist at the end. So big that it makes me question every single detail about the story. There is no way this twist is right. There is no way this twist could actually happen.

Denzel is blind. He walks across the entire country carrying a book to save the world. And he’s blind! There is no way a blind person can do the fight scenes, the crouching behind a rock to avoid enemy vehicles, or walking into bars and ordering drinks. There is no way this kind of story could have occurred by this kind of character.

And now you can imagine what the disciples in Luke 24:1-12 sounded like when the women came to tell them the good news about the empty tomb.

They doubted. The NRSV says they call Jesus’ resurrection an “idle tale.”

I, and the majority of the people in this world, sound just like the disciples. We think there is no way a story of this magnitude, a human bringing salvation and redemption to the entire world, could actually happen.

This is called the scandal of the particular. This one man. This simple man. This itinerate preacher from a backwoods town in a nothing city proves to be so majestic he alters the course of time forever.

The resurrection is so easy to pick apart. It is so easy to deny. We would say, “We have glamorized the life of this one human who strung a few good years together; and now his body has been stolen.” It’s the scandal of the particular.

And the truth is, there is controversy in the text. Not one person actually sees the resurrection moment. Not one gospel actually has an eyewitness to see the stone roll away. Not one gospel even tells the story the same – how do we know which details are right?

There are wide open avenues for doubt to drive through. It is so easy to question this moment, this event, and the importance of the resurrection. The disciples doubted. They didn’t choose to listen to the women tell them about the angels.

But what interests me is, “Did we really think the gospel story would be easy to believe?”

So what is my response? What do you believe about the resurrection Barrett?

I believe it happened. I believe it is the in-breaking of the kingdom of God and we now have a new order, a new life, and a new kingdom. I believe it is the central greatest moment in all of humanity. But I also believe it is tough to believe.

Each Christian, even human, should choose the path Peter chose in Luke 24. Instead of disbelief, run after the empty tomb as fast as you can and see if you too can find the living Jesus. Peter did this. And it changed his life. I’ve done this. And it changed mine too.

Comments

3 said…
well done ginnin - as always.
April 12, 2010 at 10:56 PM
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