What if Christ had not risen?
Mark 16:1-8
by Frank Schaefer

Just imagine we only had the original Gospel of Mark in our NT bible. That’d be a pretty frill--less Easter celebration, don’t you think?

Now, even in the original version of Mark though you still have the empty tomb and the promise that the disciples will meet up with Jesus again.

But, this whole thing made me ponder an interesting question: what if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead? Would it still be possible to believe in him as our Savior? What would it be like to talk about a Savior who died and didn’t rise from the dead in a physical sense?

Well, I suppose there are religions whose founders did die and didn’t rise from the grave, like Mohamed and Moses, and these religions still live on.

I guess, a belief in the physical resurrection of Jesus is not absolutely necessary for the theology of salvation through the cross—Christ could have still died an atoning death for your and my sins--forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God would still be in place even without a belief in the resurrection.

But would the Christian message still be the same?

No, I’m sure there’d be something missing. Had Jesus not been raised from the dead, he would have been defeated by the evil powers of this world. The victory would be on the side of Evil, on the side of the corrupt Sanhedrin, and on the side of the gruesome Roman oppressors.

How could we sing “Victory in Jesus,” had he not been raised from the dead? Clearly, a messiah that was condemned by the highest court, a messiah executed by the state -- crucified in shame and agony, does not a victory story make.

Even the original gospel of Mark is clear on this: the tomb was empty, no body to be found. And though there are no reports of appearances by Jesus in the original version, the angel does tell the disciples: He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

That brings me to another question: why didn’t Jesus appear to the whole world? Why just to a few select disciples and followers?

Why not rub victory in the face of his accusers and murderers?

Why didn’t he march into the Sanhedrin and say to Anas and Cephas, the high priests “I’m back.” “You thought you got rid of me? Well, think again. See and believe!”

And why didn’t he march into Pontius Pilate’s place and say to him and the Roman soldiers who mocked, tortured and killed him: “prepare to die you wicked brood of vipers.”

Had I been Jesus, I would have done it. Let them have it. Let them shake in their shoes for a while (before saying: just kidding. There is forgiveness for you too).

Think about this: Jesus could have turned the whole world toward him in an instant, had he shown himself to everybody. He could have called a couple of press conferences, told his story on Oprah, and….boom, the world would have been converted to Christianity in an instance! Everyone would have believed…..or would they have?

As it turns out, not even Thomas--one of his own disciples--according to the gospel of John believed that he had been raised from the dead, until he laid his hand in the pierced side.

And besides, that’s not how God operates anyhow. God does not rub your face in anything. God never lords it over you; Instead, God always extends a warm invitation to believe, to have faith.

If Jesus had shown himself to the world, then that would not have required faith any longer. Showing faith is something that’s very important to God; that’s why Jesus said to Thomas: “you believe because you have seen, but blessed are those (like us) who have not seen and yet believe.”

And so we believe, we believe in the risen Christ, we believe in the victory he’s won for all of us.

As we go to the metaphorical Galilee, that place where we live and work and where we minister, we still encounter him—the risen Christ.

Isn’t that what the angel said to the disciples in Mark?: “go to Galilee, that place where you’re all from.” He’s already gone there and you will find him there—and so will we.

How many times has Jesus said to the disciples while he was with them in the flesh: don’t look for God in the clouds, in the sky, or in the temple. You want to see God? Look at this farmer, there’s God right there. The kingdom of God is near, just open your eyes, it’s all around you. The kingdom of God is like….this widow over there; it’s like the shepherd over here—the kingdom of God is already among us.

Do you want to see the risen Christ? Are you searching for him? Go to your Galilee, your everyday life, and open your eyes. For he is right there where you live and sleep and work.

The risen Christ can be found in Joe, a member of my former church, who was went to an ugly divorce, got laid off his job he had for 23 years, and who lost his house and even his car—kind of a modern day Job; but he held on to his faith and refused to declare bankruptcy and defeat. Joe has since become a missionary who now brings the good news of the risen Christ to people who have little hope--much like he used to have little hope.

The risen Christ can be found in Dan a member of our church right here, who suffered a stroke and a severe brain bleed and who was told by his doctors that he won’t ever walk and talk again. But Dan refused to believe that and you know what one of his major motivations is: his faith, his faith in the possibilities that God has set before him. How do I know that? Because the highest goal that Dan has in his life right now is this: to be able to teach the children at our Vacation Bible School again this year—less than one year after suffering this life-threatening brain attack. He believes that God will enable him to do that through the power of faith and I believe it too. We will all witness this miracle come July during our VBS.

The risen Christ can be found in any of us, if we only look through the eyes of faith.

God always encourages us to look at situations and people through the eyes of faith. He wants us to look around and find the risen Christ, to see the resurrection, to see the miracle that the world mocks at, to see the possibilities when the world only sees a dead end, to see the opportunity when the world sees only a write-off, to see a victory when the world only sees a total and utter defeat.

Easter faith is the faith in the impossible; it’s faith in the resurrection and faith in the victory of God. Happy Easter! Amen