Devotional 4-4-10

John 20:1-18

Usually, it seems, our older family members are the reliable sources for family history and tradition. As details get mixed up or forgotten, “Grandpa” or “Grandma” could help get the story straight. My maternal grandmother was wonderful in many regards, including the telling of family stories. However, she had a propensity to embellish. My sister and I observed that the older she got, the more ornaments she hung on a family story.

The four writers of the Gospels of Jesus Christ have varying accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Mark, the oldest gospel, has the briefest account with the fewest details. John, the latest gospel, has more detail and broader stories.

Matthew says there was an earthquake, not recorded in the other three gospels. Matthew says there was an angel at the tomb who greeted two Marys when they arrived. Mark says a young man greeted three women who went to the tomb. Luke says two men in dazzling apparel greeted three or four women, depending on how the Greek text is understood. John says Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and was greeted by two angels inside the tomb, later seeing Jesus whom she supposed was the gardener. Luke says that after the women returned and told the disciples what they had seen, Peter went to the tomb. John says Peter and John both ran to the tomb. There are other varying details and different post-resurrection stories.

The cynic who discounts the resurrection as fable might find a “gold mine” of argument in these conflicting recollections that raise understandable suspicion about the evidences of Jesus’ resurrection. Can’t these writers get their stories straight? This is a classic ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ example of blindness to a basic truth because some of the information or unimportant details do not align.

While the evidences recorded by gospel writers between 40 and 90 years after the time of Christ are different, they offer the same truth, pointing to the same risen Christ. Frankly, does it really matter that the stories are not in precise agreement? I believe there is a much greater, stronger, and more important evidence that Jesus lives, and that evidence is within our lives.

When others see you where you live, work, learn, worship, or play, what evidence do they see? In the conduct of your life, do others find no evidence of a living Christ in you – that it appears you believe Jesus is dead and his teachings irrelevant? Or do they see evidence of a living Christ?

Please pray with me. Loving and gracious God: on this joyous day of celebration, may I look to the risen Christ with a new eye toward evaluating whether my life contributes to the evidence that Jesus is alive in our world. Let my life reflect sacrificial living for the cause of Christ and the joyous living of his teachings. In the name of the risen Christ, Amen.

Rev. Jack Lipphardt