I've been studying Deuteronomy chapters 5-7, preparing some notes for our small group leaders. As I've been doing that, I find myself approaching Easter freshly. Here are a couple of questions for us with chapters 5-6 particularly in mind.
1. We're used to saying that the eyewitnesses of the resurrection saw Jesus alive, but we were not alive at the time and so did not. That is, of course, true: We are called to believe without having seen (John 20:29). But. Is there also a sense in which those first eyewitnesses were there on behalf of the church of God throughout the ages. So, as the church of God, we can say that we saw him alive. It is not just that "they" (some other, unrelated people) saw him. We, who are alive today, saw the risen Jesus, because their encounter was our encounter.
2. We're used to qualifying "Jesus Christ is risen today" by stressing that he didn't actually rise today. He rose many centuries ago, this is the anniversary when we remember that. That is, of course, true: The resurrection of Jesus was a real, tangible and physical event that occurred uniquely at a singular moment in space and time. But. Is there a sense in which, as we gather on Easter Sunday, it becomes afresh for us "Resurrection Day". Each year at Easter, it becomes again "today", a day to meet the risen Jesus and respond to him in joy, faith, hope and maybe some doubts.
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