'The Claim that Changes Everything'

There are some things you can hear, consider, and set down. You weigh the idea, file it somewhere reasonable, and move on. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has never worked that way. From the first time the disciples announced it in Jerusalem to our sharing the gospel today, the resurrection produces one of two responses — faith or fear. It does not permit the middle.

The book of Acts documents this pattern across three different settings, and the result is the same every time. In Acts 4, the apostle Peter declares that God raised Jesus from the dead in Jerusalem. Five thousand people believe on that Pentecost day and a few days later, the religious authorities throw Peter in jail. In Acts 17, the apostle Paul announces the resurrection before the philosophers of Athens. Some of them sneer and leave immediately. Others say they want to hear more. A few believe, including a city council member. People self-select in or out over the resurrection. In Acts 23, Paul stands before the full Jewish high court and states he is on trial because of the resurrection. The room erupts into a physical fight between the council's own factions. Roman soldiers have to physically remove Paul from the building. These are religious colleagues, men who share a faith. Chaos erupts between those who believe and those who do not. The proclamation of the resurrection divides, because it is not a philosophical idea that can be agreed to disagree about. It is a historical claim: a specific man was dead, and God raised Him. If that is true, nothing will stay the same.

That is the claim Paul was making when he stood in chains before the Roman governor Felix and declared his hope "that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked" (Acts 24:15). He was not offering Felix a point of view to consider. He was naming a reality. Most people, when they think about the resurrection honestly, discover that what they feel is not confusion but pressure — the quiet, persistent pressure of something true waiting for a response.

The question the resurrection asks is not whether you understand it. The question is what you will do with it. You can't hear the resurrection and stay in the middle. What is your honest response to the claim that Jesus rose from the dead?

Blessings,

Jonathan