Reflecting on Good Friday

St. Paul said it for all Christians when he noted that if the resurrection of Jesus is not a literal truth, then we all are fools. Which is why I do not understand those who claim to be Christians and yet proclaim that the "resurrection story" is allegorical.

As an attorney who has litigated hundreds of lawsuits over a career spanning nearly 30 years, I am conditioned to examine the evidence. So, what is the evidence that this resurrection event occurred?

According to the only written record extant, more than 500 eyewitnesses reported seeing and interacting with a man who had been executed and entombed days earlier but who was clearly alive and well. There is no known record or testimony from even a single witness that the executed man's corpse was seen in the tomb after those eyewitnesses reported seeing him alive. And since reports of the resurrection must have caused a stir among the Roman civil authorities and the Jewish religious authorities, one must assume that if there was some evidence that the resurrection did not occur (as reported by these 500 eyewitnesses), there would be some record of it.

Still, it is beyond my human understanding to simply buy in to the resurrection of Christ, because everyone knows that, even with ultra-modern medical technology, human beings do not become alive after they have been dead for three days.

So it boils down to faith. It becomes a choice. Do I choose to believe? Or do I choose to rely upon my limited human understanding and buy the allegory argument?

At the close of the Maundy Thursday service last night, as the Altar was being stripped and the 22nd Psalm was being chanted, Christ's crucifixion and resurrection once again was made real to me. And when I reflect upon what He did on this day nearly 2,000 years ago, I understand that "God so loved the world..."

I pray that you have a meaningful Good Friday and a joyous and triumphant Easter.

R. David Weaver