{"id":394,"date":"2011-10-12T16:26:46","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T16:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/?p=394"},"modified":"2011-10-12T16:26:46","modified_gmt":"2011-10-12T16:26:46","slug":"resurrection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/?p=394","title":{"rendered":"Resurrection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font face=\"Georgia\"><em><font size=\"3\">\u201cThomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, \u2018We have seen the Lord!\u2019 But he said to them, \u2018Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.\u2019 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, \u2018Peace be with you!\u2019&nbsp; Then he said to Thomas, \u2018Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.\u2019 Thomas said to him, \u2018My Lord and my God!\u2019 Then Jesus told him, \u2018Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.\u2019\u201d \u2013 John 20: 24-29<\/font><\/em><br \/><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">The claim was nothing short of unbelievable. Jesus said he would die and then rise to life. And now his buddies tell him that, sure enough, they had seen Jesus die and then rise to life.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Thomas wasn\u2019t buying it.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Why would he? It\u2019s a <em>ridiculous, unrealistic<\/em> thought. Honestly, I really respect Thomas. His realism didn\u2019t make him a 2nd class follower of Christ. He was the whole package!<\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font face=\"Georgia\">He left everything to follow Jesus (Mk 10:28). Can I say I\u2019ve done that?<\/font><\/li>\n<li><font face=\"Georgia\">He had internally resolved that following Jesus was worth dying for, and led the others in this view (Jn 11:16). Have you?<\/font><\/li>\n<li><font face=\"Georgia\">And in the quote above, once Jesus did address him in his rational skepticism, he went further than any of the other guys did by declaring Jesus to be <em>nothing less than God Himself<\/em>. <\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Have I made Jesus, God?<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Pause. Let me clarify. Or elaborate. Or whatever it is I\u2019m doing here.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">If making Jesus my God means that I revolve my life around him, my thoughts around him, my behavior around him\u2026then yes.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">If making Jesus my God means that I go to him for guidance, answers, and even life\u2026then yes.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">If making Jesus my God means that I strive to obey what he teaches, do what he does, and become more like him in character, mission, and priorities\u2026then yes.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">My question today, however, is\u2026have I made the RESURRECTED Jesus my God?<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Thomas had done all those things I listed above, too. He believed in Jesus who lived and died and represented God. He didn\u2019t argue or leave his apprenticeship with him when Jesus said he was God (Jn 14:8-9). It was the <em>resurrected<\/em> Jesus he doubted.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">And it matters\u2026at least to me. And it comes down to this:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">I can\u2019t believe in the resurrected Jesus without believing that miracles can happen.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">What I have come to recognize is that I can follow Jesus \u201cas God\u201d in two different ways, and few if any would ever notice but me.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Option 1: I can follow the good, holy, serving, compassionate, confronting, challenging, and \u201cgave-his-life-for-my-sin\u201d Jesus as God. This will save my soul (I think), make me an activist for the poor and hurting (most of the time, at least), cause me to worship regularly out of awe and gratitude (with others and in my heart), stand up for truth (even as I\u2019m continuing to learn it), and share Christ with others.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">The problem with option 1 Jesus as God? I would not believe that miraculous new life on Earth would be possible. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Option 2 is what I need. I\u2019m after nothing short of world-change for people\u2019s hearts and lives (including mine). Not current world-adjustment. Not current world-improvement. Not current world-tweaking. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">The world-change I\u2019m after for people is world-resurrection. Which means a death <em>must<\/em> occur. And who in their right mind would recommend death to someone as a solution?<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">The answer? Only those who believe in the resurrection.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">Believing in the <em>resurrected<\/em> Jesus as God makes me a believer in the potential death and resurrection of every person (including me) I meet. So I look at them differently. They can feel it. And when I start being convinced by them that their situations have hopelessly trapped them into being who it is they currently are, and this sadly DOES happen to me sometimes, I can literally <em>feel<\/em> my disbelief in the potential for that person to have and enjoy a brand new life. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">And something dies in me when this happens. Something dies, and the best I can offer them is some money, or a prayer, or my compassionate presence, or a ride, or a meal, or a comforting focus on the suffering of Christ for their sins, and the promise of a better life in Heaven after this sucky life is over.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">But not hope. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">At least, not hope for the abundant life (that Jesus said he came to give) now. There is no chance for them to enjoy the Kingdom of peace, joy, and righteousness now. Not when I only make an unresurrected Jesus God.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">I guess technically, I belong to the camp Jesus referred to as <em>\u201cthose who have not seen and yet have believed.\u201d<\/em> <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">But I feel more like Thomas than one would expect; like I have personally and proverbially put my own hands in the side of Jesus. I have seen the wounds on his hands that killed him. And yet there he is. Alive. New. And with him, the whole world changed for me. No old self, dead, with all of it&#8217;s curses, and my new self alive and kickin!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\">I, like Thomas, can now say to the <em>resurrected<\/em> Jesus\u2026 my Lord and my God!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"Georgia\"><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, \u2018We have seen the Lord!\u2019 But he said to them, \u2018Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pO6nf-6m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}