Why is it important for us to hold fast to the remembrance of the empty tomb? Some people, beginning with the Jewish opponents, have always been tempted to believe too little about God\u2019s salvation in Jesus Christ, and usually that temptation begins with scoffing disregard for the moments in which he entered and then transcended history.<\/p>\n
It is commonly heard from Episcopal pulpits, on Easter morning no less, that the empty tomb is only a metaphor for the reality of the living Christ, or that Christ rose, not from the tomb but in the hearts of the women at the tomb or among the disciples when they celebrated their first Easter Eucharist. But this is the same mindset that makes Christ\u2019s birth a metaphor and his death an inspiring example of commitment to a cause. And in the end, Jesus Christ himself becomes only a metaphor of how you can \u201cbe all that you can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
To such thinking, I can only suggest a strong dose of John Updike. In a semi-autobiographical story, \u201cPigeon Feathers,\u201d Updike describes the formative experience of a rather sickly, sensitive young boy named David who had just read H. G. Wells\u2019 version of the \u201cswoon theory,\u201d that Jesus had survived the cross, staggered out of the tomb, and died elsewhere, thus making Christianity a freakish mistake at best. Fortunately, it seems, David finds consolation from Pastor Dobson, who says: \u201cBeware smiling affirmations of the \u2018meaning\u2019 of the resurrection. It is the monstrosity of the empty tomb we want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n A #Prayer<\/a> from Frank Colquhoun ‘Come to us, we pray thee, in thy risen power and make us glad with thy presence; and so breathe thy Holy Spirit into our hearts that we may be strong to serve thee and spread abroad thy good news’ https:\/\/t.co\/MvWu8BmWK0<\/a> #easter<\/a> #easter2019<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/pRE6AbK88W<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) May 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n