Can You Wear an Empty Tomb?

As (Western) Christians, we so often focus on the cross.  It's not a bad thing to focus on.  I really believe it's not.  It shows us just how much Jesus loves me.  We could sing, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Cross it tells me so!"

But, this Easter season, I wonder, "Can you wear an empty tomb?"  Do we sometimes focus on the death of Jesus as the substance of our "salvation" to the exclusion of the Incarnation and Resurrection?

I just wanted to say that.  Now on to the real post.

Going back to my last post, I questioned whether the death of Jesus was "necessary" or "inevitable."  I will admit that it might be both, but I'm going to argue that the death of the Messiah was inevitable, not necessary.  (If you disagree, please argue back!)  God freely forgives our errors and bad choices, freely heals our sicknesses and slaveries, and freely transforms our hearts into temples by and for the Holy Spirit.

Here's an analogy:  A firefighter, who has devoted his life to fighting fires and saving lives, arrives at a fire.  His experience tells him it's a bad one.  A neighbor tells him that the family, parents and children, are still inside.  He knows that if he doesn't act, they will all die.  He knows that if he does act, he might not make it out alive.  So, out of love and duty, he plunges into the burning building and makes a way for the family to get out.  He does not.  His last act in life was to get others to safety.

This firefighter is a hero.  We can say that he saved others.  We can say that he delivered them from the power of the flames.  We can say that he sacrificed his life for this family.  In a very real way, he traded his life for theirs.  But, we cannot say that the fire required the death of one to save the others.  We definitely cannot say that God required the death of the firefighter in order to save the family.

The firefighter knew that his death was inevitable.  He could have walked away and lived a longer life.  But, that is not the choice he made.  He chose to walk the path that led to his death, a path God knows only too well.

God knew that in order to transform the world that he had so lovingly created, a world twisted by selfishness, fear, and doubt, God would have to do something different.  The creation could not heal itself.  God would need to infuse himself into creation in a new way to renew the face of the earth.  God also knew what happened when those in power encountered a challenge.  He knew that when God became incarnate, some would love him, and some would hate him.  And, he knew that Jesus would die, nailed to a Roman cross.  God could avoid the pain of the cross, the suffering of the Son of Man, but to do so would be to walk away from the Creation God loves.  And, God could not deny himself.  So, God the Son became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended to the dead.

God knew this was going to happen.  And, he knew the end of the story.  He knew that the death of the God-man would lead inevitably to the resurrection of this same God-man.  He knew that the whole movement of transformation required the Incarnation, the suffering, the death, and Resurrection of the Messiah, and the sending of the Holy Spirit in power.  All of this was inevitable for the necessary transformation of the human heart and all of Creation.

Jesus came into this world knowing that he would suffer and die.  But, he loved YOU so much that he was willing to do it.