I have probably mentioned this before, but it was such a disturbing event, I suspect I’ll never forget it. A couple of weeks after Easter in about 2004, someone came to my office to tell me about something someone said after the Easter service that year. At the end of the later service, with a room just crammed full of worshippers, a man said to those around, “ I can’t believe that Michael O’Bannon. I’m sure he’ll get some kickback on his statement that the resurrection of Jesus was real!” It was also reported that an older lady in the pew in front of him took him on. Good for her. I don’t know who the mas was: no one would tell me: but I did know the lady. She
was the type to speak her mind.

I was so upset, I went to see a professor of the New Testament. (I Won’t reveal who or where.) That person told me that the latest scholarship on resurrection was that if it did happen, it was only for Jesus.Most likely, it was believed that it was only a symbolic statement! You can imagine my dismay.

Friends, while there is much that can be explained in a reasonable and scientifically demonstrated way, it should be quickly stated that there is much about our faith that can only be accepted and believed. It always amuses me when people admit there is a God, but refuse to believe in the things God does!

We are a people of faith; and, as we approach Easter, we need to be reminded that God is bigger than our limited, human understanding of the divinely created universe. Easter is about the awesome power of God-as well as their promise of our own resurrection. Christ arose!

Michael D. O’Bannon, Pastor