In southern California, where snow may be seen only on the peaks of
the distant San Bernardino mountains, Santa Claus rides a sleigh, his
illuminated plastic effigy following Rudoph's red nose across the roof
tiles of a Spanish hacienda. Santa may also be found in malls and on
public property, where political correctness has banned the
crèche-unless, of course, the sheep and oxen are joined by Donner,
Blitzen, Rudolf, the Lion King, Pocahontas, and Mickey Mouse. Yet in
Vanity Fair Mall the faint background music still includes "Hark the
Herald Angels Sing" and "O Come Let Us Adore Him."
Jesus the
Christ, however, is not reduced to background music in our time. He was
born in history; he now rules history as the risen Lord. His is not the
"virtual reality" of digital entertainment nor the unreality of
multicultural myths, but the first and final reality: the personal,
living God incarnate. He is the Alpha and the Omega: the creating Word
who has the last word, for when he comes again, we face not a jury but
the Judge. Human history cannot contain his glory, but we need the depth
dimension of Scripture history to reveal it.
On the first Easter
morning, when Jesus walked, unrecognized, with Cleopas and a companion,
he did not remove their doubts and fears by saying, "Cleopas!" as he
had said "Mary!" in the garden. They needed to know more than the fact
of the resurrection-they were walking away from the fact of the empty
tomb and of the presence of angels reported by the women. They needed to
understand its meaning: the glory of Jesus Christ that was gained
through his suffering. What they foolishly failed to grasp was the
message of Scripture.
Jesus, therefore, beginning with the books
of Moses and the prophets, explained from all the Scriptures the things
concerning himself (Lk 24:27). He was not willing to show Cleopas that
he was somehow alive, since in a chance universe anything can happen.
The good news is not that there was once a resurrection. The good news
is "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he
was buried, that he was raised the third day according to the
Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3f).
We, too, need to know the fact of the
resurrection in the context of its meaning. The teaching of Jesus that
burned into the hearts of those two disciples has not been forever lost
because Cleopas lacked a tape recorder. We have Christ's resurrection
teaching during those forty days in the inspired New Testament. That is
why the sure guide to our understanding of the Old Testament is the New
Testament. Continue at Edmund P. Clowney
