Of Rabbits and the Resurrection

What does a bunny have to do with this time of year? Something about Spring and fertility festivals, but that's not my focus here. Once a year, around this time, Jews celebrate the Passover. More than likely, a man who claimed to be the Jewish Messiah was crucified by the Romans around that same time. The Roman historian Tacitus, speaking of “the group known as Christians,” wrote: "The leader of the sect was named Christ . . . he had been put to death by Pontius Pilate, but the evil superstition of belief in him had reached Rome” (Brian Moynahan, The Faith: A History of Christianity [London: Doubleday, 2002], 73). This "evil superstition" was no doubt referring to the resurrection.

Furthermore, Josephus (a first century CE Jewish Historian who worked for Rome) said: "There was a wise man who was called Jesus, and his conduct was good and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive. Accordingly they believed that he was the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders" (S.M. Miller and R.V. Huber, The Bible: A History [Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2004], 61). Note that this is the so-called unedited version, not the later redacted version. If the resurrection account was a lie, it begs the question: Why were his followers willing to die for his cause, unless they were fully convinced of the resurrection?

Pliny (the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor) spoke of Jesus' followers. In one of his letters, dated around 112 CE, he asks Trajan's advice about the appropriate way to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. He told Trajan that “after investigation by torture . . . the accused said their custom was to meet before dawn on a particular day to sing a hymn to Christ as a god and to take an oath to abstain from wrongdoing” (John McManners, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990], 43). This "particular day" was probably Sunday (1 Cor 16:2; Mark 16:9; Acts 20:17).

Both Lucian of Samosata and the Babylonian Talmud support the existence of a man called Jesus put to death by crucifixion during the first century CE. Evidence pointing to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus may not be ubiquitous. But then, why would anyone write about the life and death of a lunatic? Rome crucified thousands of such insignificant people. It seems only because Jesus had a small following did his life and death warrant any ink on expensive paper.

But we're still not at why I write this. I write this because Jesus made some outrageous claims during his life. The writers of scripture made it clear Jesus was human. Jesus’ own statements corroborate this.

But Jesus claimed also to be the God of Israel (even though he laid aside the independent use of his divine attributes while fulfilling his earthly ministry). If Jesus had simply said, "I am God", this probably would not have affected the people of his day. Titles, like today, were pretty much worthless without works to authenticate them. Others were given the title “god” in the Hebrew Bible (Psalm 82:6). In John 8:58, however, Jesus called himself the "I AM." Now, this probably means nothing to you and me, because we live in 21st century America. But believe me, the people of that day knew exactly what Jesus was saying. He was referring to our Exodus 3:14 where God called himself, "I AM." He made himself equal with God in John 5:17-18 and 10:30-33 authenticating his claim with miracles. The religious leaders wanted to kill him, which was perfectly acceptable under the law (Lev 24:16) assuming the divine claim was baseless. Even John himself considered Jesus the one true God (John 1:1; the last word of the verse, “God,” is an anarthrous precopulative predicate nominative used qualitatively). And Matthew was convinced Jesus was the one spoken of in Isaiah 7:14 when in Matthew 1:23 he calls Jesus "Immanuel," meaning "God with us." Thomas called Jesus "My lord and my God" to Jesus' face in John 20:29. If Thomas was simply uttering an exclamation, Jesus, a rabbi, would have rebuked Thomas. But Jesus didn’t. Both Paul (Titus 2:13) and Peter (2 Peter 1:1) called Jesus God (the original language falls under the Granville Sharp rule, which connects two nouns together by the conjunction "and", all preceded by one definite article). The Hebrew Bible even claims the Messiah will be called "Mighty God, Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6). And the writer of Hebrews (1:6) tells us Jesus is worshipped by the angels, when Luke 4:8 clearly states who alone should be worshipped: God (same Greek word for "worship" used in both verses).

It does not make sense to say, "Jesus is a good teacher, except when he's delusional about being God." That would be like saying, "My son's teacher is a good teacher, except when he teaches my son 2+2=5.” You must conclude either he's a lunatic, a liar, or he is who he says he is.

I don’t understand how Jesus could be both fully human and fully divine. But I don't understand nuclear fission either. I don't understand how matter first originated. I don't fully understand my wife, but I have a wonderful marriage. I don't understand many things, but I still have faith in them and their existence.

There can be only one reason why Jesus had to be God and human. The sacrificial lamb of the Passover had to be without blemish, but an animal can't pay the price for a human. A human had to die--and that human had to be without blemish, without sin. Than person was Jesus. His life gives Christians an example for life here and now. His death, burial, and bodily resurrection (Luke 24:39) give Christians hope for a much better future. And that is why Christians celebrate during this time of year.

CH (MAJ) Charles Fields, OCS, Instructor/Writer

(All citations can be found in the APG library)