If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  (1 Cor. 15:14-17, NIV)

Much discussion has gone on of late concerning the relationship of Islam with American society. I'm not going to delve into this discussion, however. I'm just going to express my opinion, in line with the majority of Americans, that people of all faiths or no faith can be good citizens. Martin Luther himself once said he'd rather have a person in civil authority be a well-qualified Turk (Muslim) than a poorly-qualified Christian. Instead, I wish to address the differences between the three faiths which acknowledge in varying degrees the existence and/or importance of Jesus of Nazareth.

Most Jews believe Jesus lived and died much as described in the gospels. There is a wide swath of beliefs concerning just how much of the miracle stories therein are true. Some believe him to have been just a prophet of a sort and that the miracles are embellishments. Some ascribe more power to his ministry and think the accounts may be true. The crux, of course, is that mainstream Jews believe Joseph to have been Jesus' actual father, and that after his death, he certainly was not resurrected. Hence, the importance of Jesus is limited to a great teacher, holy man, a prophet, and a false Messiah.

It is probably not as well known that Muslims believe quite a few things about Jesus as well. They believe in the Virgin Birth, and in his prophetic and miraculous ministry. However, we come to a parting of the ways at his death. Muslims believe that Jesus the Messiah was not crucified. Instead, another man was made to look like Jesus, and that he was killed in place of Jesus. The resurrection appearances are credited to the disciples seeing Jesus' ghost, as some gospel verses suggest was their first thought. They say the real Jesus was taken up to God (or Allah) before this "exchange". Jesus is a miracle worker, a prophet, but only a man.

We can go no further without confronting the question: there are three different opinions, only one can be right. Which one is it? If either the Jews or the Muslims are correct, we are in fact doing what Paul says above, that is, misrepresenting God, and have no basis for our faith. The trouble, of course, is that we cannot prove anything about those events almost 2000 years ago. It is a matter of faith, with Christians believing the testimony given to us by the New Testament writers, and Jews and Muslims rejecting some or most of it.

I have studied the Bible steadily for a least a decade, with some studies going back to my college days. Constantly, I was confronted with the question. Does the story ring true? Are these witnesses credible? I believe that they are. It is simply ludicrous to think that the disciples of Jesus would have continued the path related to us in the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of the New Testament if they had not experienced what they said they did in those days after Jesus' crucifixion. A dead Messiah is a failed Messiah. Any Jew would have said that. Continue to follow a dead man? Simply inconceivable and completely incompatible with Jewish beliefs. There is only one possibility - that the story was and is true, that they experienced Jesus alive after his death. During his ministry, Jesus tried to tell the disciples things would not go down the way they might have expected. It would take something earth-shattering, literally, before they would have their eyes opened to all Jesus had taught and to comprehend its meaning. It would take his resurrection. Jesus - healer, teacher, prophet, Son of God. I see truth in our Christian confession. Praise be to God for all who have not seen, and yet believe.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also.  (1 Cor. 5:3-8, NIV)

Jesus the Messiah is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Contributed by David
Sunday October 10, 2010
Liturgical Year C Week 46
Sunday Gospel reading:
Lectionary 28 (Proper 23)
Twentyth Sunday after Pentecost