Have you ever wondered what the world would have looked like if the Axis powers had won World War II? Or how history would have been different if the Soviet Union had been first in the space race to put a man on the moon? In recent years, an emerging genre of fiction, called Alternative/Alternate History has done just that. You may have seen it played out in Amazon Prime’s The Man in the High Castle, which imagines the United States divided into two territories by Germany and Japan after World War II. More recently, Apple’s new series For All Mankind conceives a world where the US is beaten in the quest to put a man on the moon. Movies, series, and books like this, while fictional in nature, are designed to cause us to ask, “What if?”
During Easter week, as many people prepare to celebrate the most important day in Christianity, my thoughts went to the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, a city in ancient Greece. Toward the end of the letter (1 Corinthians, chapter 15 in our Bible) Paul tells the Corinthians that after Jesus’ resurrection, he appeared to many people, including a group of over 500 people. Most of these witnesses were still alive when Paul wrote this letter, so they could be tracked down and interviewed. But there were some people who were convinced that no one could be resurrected, including Jesus, and they were out there, casting doubt on Jesus’ resurrection. So Paul, way before “alt history” became a thing, writes a little of his own in 1 Corinthians 15:13-19:
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
In his letter, Paul imagines a Christianity without a resurrected Jesus. If that were the case, Paul argues, everything about Christ, the Christian faith, the bible, and the church become meaningless. Look at the passage.
Preaching about Christ? Useless.
Faith in Christ? Useless.
Christians? False witnesses.
Our faith? Futile.
People who died believing in Jesus? Lost.
People who trust Jesus in this life? Pitiful.
Easter is the most significant moment in history and the greatest day in the Christian faith because without it, everything else loses meaning. If Jesus was just a nice guy, wise man, and good teacher, he becomes a good role model, but not the Savior. He joins the ranks of other women and men throughout history who have demonstrated great wisdom and high character, and even if he is at the head of that class, it still falls far short of his claims of being the Son of God and the Savior of the World. That’s why Paul says people should pity those who futilely believe in a Jesus who stayed buried.
But, Paul goes on to write, thankfully, that’s not the case:
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20)
Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we have the hope of eternal life as well. Jesus was the “first fruits” of resurrection and now we can experience resurrection promise, too.
What evidence is there for Jesus’ resurrection? Some of the most prominent evidence is: the empty tomb, the inability of the Jewish religious leaders or Roman government to point to his still dead body, and the witnesses of a group of women, the Apostle Peter, the rest of the apostles, and a group of over 500 people. There is also the transformation of Jesus’ disciples from frightened men and women who fled and hid during his arrest to people who would proclaim his resurrection to thousands of people, even when it cost them their lives.
As Easter approaches, you might have your doubts, whether you are a Christian or not. Wrapping your head around someone rising from the dead (apart from in a zombie movie) is challenging. You don’t have to check your brain at the door and pretend to believe something. But this Easter, don’t let your doubts keep from considering the possibility that Jesus is who he said he was. Don’t let your doubts keep you from looking into the empty grave. If Jesus was just a man, our faith is meaningless. But if he is who he claimed to be, that changes everything. An alternative to Paul’s alternative history would look something like this:
Preaching about Christ? Powerful.
Faith in Christ? Crucial.
Christians? Hope filled.
Our faith? Meaningful.
People who died believing in Jesus? Eternal hope.
People who trust Jesus in this life? Secure.
This Easter, doubters are welcome at Journey Church. We will be talking about the doubts that filled the minds of many of the main people in the Easter story and how Jesus reached through those doubts to transform them. Our Easter services will be onsite and online at 8:30 and 10:00 am. It’s the first week in a series we will be teaching about doubt, and we’d love to share it with you.