Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859 – 1937), “The Two Disciples at the Tomb”, c. 1906
The Art Institute of Chicago
Reproduction Permission: http://www.artic.edu/aic/copyright.html

Easter Sunday (April 8, 2007)
1 Cor. 15:19-28

Does it really matter if Christ is risen from the dead? The Apostle Paul thought so: “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

Isn’t the realm of faith something that really can’t be challenged and is therefore best kept private? Again, not for Paul. He lived in a world in which everything would eventually be subjected to Christ, even death itself. The resurrection proved this could happen, and would happen. His faith therefore made very public claims, and he put his very life on the line to proclaim and defend those claims.

Paul challenged the world: produce Christ’s body, and I’ll renounce all of this. Now, maybe James Cameron has finally succeeded where others over 2,000 years have failed. However, early returns indicate that the weight of the evidence is with Christ rather than with Mr. Cameron (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595238,00.html).

Christ is not a coping mechanism. Rather, he is hope that one day all that is wrong with us and with the world will be put right. He is also the path along which our lives can flourish. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

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