Nothing “mad” about Easter

by Editor · March 27, 2002

WHEN Paul the Apostle told the Athenians of Christ’s Resurrection, he was laughed to scorn (Acts 17:32). He was not embarrassed.
The difference between Paul and them was Paul’s conviction that the true God had spoken in Christ.

The Athenians knew nothing of a true God. They preferred their traditional schools of philosophy and the rivalries among them. This true God had willed that his Son should become one with humanity, perish in a wickedly unjust execution and then rise in triumph from the grave. The Apostle found it difficult to pass this message on to rational people who found it downright ridiculous.

He wrote: “Here we are preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over and to the pagans madness” (I Corinthians 1:23).
Paul’s message had its fascinating side, however. He had aroused the interest of some of his hearers and they admitted they would like to hear more from him another time. But few actually accepted the faith.

Like Paul, the Church preaches Christ crucified, dead and risen; it has the same steady conviction of faith that the true God has spoken to all peoples; it is not embarrassed to proclaim this boldly.

The Church’s preaching will always be scorned by the worldly wise and by those ignorant of Christ. It is a shame that some members of the Church have joined this show of empty wisdom and turned their backs on the simple truths of faith.

Our Lord cautioned such people when he prayed: “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children” (Luke 10:21).

Belief in Christ and in his resurrection was never meant to be an intellectual exercise. It is nothing but a warm reception and appreciation of the infinite outpouring of divine love for us in the person of Jesus Christ, despite our weakness.

The Church’s faith in the Easter mystery suggests to the worldly that it is nave and “mad” to accept it. Compared, however, with the tangle of political, social and selfish ideologies that absorb and confuse the “philosophers” of our times, the blunt message from God is unchanging: Christ your Saviour has risen.

Believe this, believe in him and be glad.