Last week I watched a television special on the Shroud of Turin. Parts of it were quite fascinating. Parts of it made my eyes roll. Parts of it irritated my gag-reflex. And still other parts of it made me think.
First of all, just to get it out of my system quickly, one cannot watch a special on the “History” Channel about anything Christian without hearing mentioned 1) the Gnostics/Gnostic Gospels and/or 2) the Knights Templar. … Lord, have mercy.
One theory that fascinated me was the “scientific” opinion of what could have caused the image of Christ to appear on the shroud – light. The expert proponents for the shroud’s authenticity propose that the image must have been etched into the fabric by means of an incredible amount of light. How fitting. The resurrection of Christ is the victory of the true Light over darkness as Christ smashes the gates of death and hell, flooding all of existence with His uncreated light.
Surprisingly, the show concluded largely in favor of the shroud’s authenticity, as well as the resurrection. The show ended by showing an artistically enhanced, computer-generated 3D depiction of Jesus as taken from the image on the shroud. Then the credits rolled. The ending is what made me think the most. These people had just affirmed the relic and resurrection’s historical authenticity, yet they left the most important question completely unaddressed – “so what?” How can we affirm the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection and yet deny the present reality of it? It is absurd, and many of us do it everyday. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!
I’m sure there is a better way of saying it, but it seems to me that our hearts discern a clear difference between historical fact and present reality. One of the key goals of modernist biblical scholasticism was to find the “historical Jesus.” Modernist scholars analyze the Gospels as archaeological artifacts and assign varying degrees of authenticity to the words of Jesus in an attempt to produce an accurate snapshot photo of what Jesus was actually like to see and hear in ancient Palestine. Yet what does this snapshot mean to someone when their loved one is sick, or when a disaster has claimed one’s home or livelihood? When we are presented with a real crisis, history textbooks are only as valuable as the heat produced when burned. A textbook won’t feed your hungry family when you’re laid off from work.
And what about the “historical” Jesus? Lots of people heard Jesus preach. Thousands miraculously ate of the fish and bread given by Jesus in the wilderness. Nobody in the Gospels ever denies the miracles of Jesus. Even his enemies don’t question the occurrence of miracles, only the authority by which Jesus performed them. Thousands upon thousands of real historical people witnessed the real historical Jesus first-hand, and yet many of them shouted, “Crucify him! We have no king but Caesar!”
Knowing and believing the historical fact of the Resurrection doesn’t change anyone’s life. Scripture tells us that even the demons know who Christ is, and they tremble! The problem is that we don’t need Jesus’ resurrection 2,000 years ago on the other side of the world from us. We need Jesus’ resurrection here and now with us. We need Him in our lives, in our sufferings, in the whitewashed tombs of our hearts.
This is the reality we proclaim at Pascha. Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen! The Resurrection is not an occurrence in ancient history, but the reality of the present in which we live. Jesus is not a mere man who lived and died thousands of years ago. He is the I AM, eternally present and now. Christ is not millennia and miles away, but he is journeyed into the very depths of our darkened hearts wishing to set us free from our hell and restore us to the splendor of His Kingdom!
Oh gracious Light, indeed.
Tags: Pascha, Shroud of Turin
