St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Resurrection in a parable universe

A little boy was asked “What is a parable?” in his scripture exam. “An earthy story with a heavy meaning,” he wrote. The answer was supposed to be “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,” but I think his mistake could be forgiven!

Well, the bible contains a lot of parables, and we all know that they are “true” despite being fiction. When Jesus said that the second commandment was to love our neighbour as ourselves, the young man asked him: “Who is my neighbour?” So Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Of course it was just a made-up story, but we all know that it is “true” in that it tells us the right thing to do.

Rather harder are the stories of Jonah and Daniel in the bible. The book of Jonah is all about the fact that God loves the Ninevites despite the fact that his prophet Jonah hates them and doesn’t want them to repent and be forgiven. So it’s “true” in what it says about God and the Jews. Is it also true in the sense that Jonah survived three days in a fish, and lived to tell the tale?

The story of Daniel in the lions’ den tells us that God honours us when we honour him, and if we’re faithful to him in persecution he will defend us. That’s true, but is Daniel (the “Asterix of the Old Testament”) a real character or is he fiction?

And so we get around to the Resurrection of Jesus. It tells us that death is not the end. It tells us that Jesus is still alive in our hearts, for he has sent his Holy Spirit to be with us and in us. So is it true? Or is it what bishop John Robinson said many years ago: “the myth of God incarnate”?

More than one church leader has said the resurrection is basically a myth. David Jenkins, the former bishop of Durham, said the resurrection was “far more than a mere conjuring trick with bones” - but I think he meant it was not a trick with bones at all, in that Jesus physically stayed dead but his disciples felt his risen presence with them.

I think there are two reasons Jenkins is wrong. One is that the bible takes a lot of care to lay out the physical evidence for the resurrection - and this Easter I invite you to examine it afresh. The other is that the bible knows perfectly well that if the resurrection were just a story it would be no basis for facing death by persecution.

There are parables, but there are also realities. This Easter we celebrate the reality of Jesus being alive again.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. March 2008, Page 1.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (March 2008) Resurrection, Hymn, Revision, Question, Ecumenism. Other letters from the vicar.	Resurrection in a parable universe A little boy was asked “What is a parable?” in his scripture exam. “An earthy story with a heavy meaning,” he wrote. The answer was supposed to be “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,” but I think his mistake could be forgiven! Well, the bible contains a lot of parables, and we all know that they are “true” despite being fiction. When Jesus said that the second commandment was to love our neighbour as ourselves, the young man asked him: “Who is my neighbour?” So Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Of course it was just a made-up story, but we all know that it is “true” in that it tells us the right thing to do. Rather harder are the stories of Jonah and Daniel in the bible. The book of Jonah is all about the fact that God loves the Ninevites despite the fact that his prophet Jonah hates them and doesn’t want them to repent and be forgiven. So it’s “true” in what it says about God and the Jews. Is it also true in the sense that Jonah survived three days in a fish, and lived to tell the tale? The story of Daniel in the lions’ den tells us that God honours us when we honour him, and if we’re faithful to him in persecution he will defend us. That’s true, but is Daniel (the “Asterix of the Old Testament”) a real character or is he fiction? And so we get around to the Resurrection of Jesus. It tells us that death is not the end. It tells us that Jesus is still alive in our hearts, for he has sent his Holy Spirit to be with us and in us. So is it true? Or is it what bishop John Robinson said many years ago: “the myth of God incarnate”? More than one church leader has said the resurrection is basically a myth. David Jenkins, the former bishop of Durham, said the resurrection was “far more than a mere conjuring trick with bones” - but I think he meant it was not a trick with bones at all, in that Jesus physically stayed dead but his disciples felt his risen presence with them. I think there are two reasons Jenkins is wrong. One is that the bible takes a lot of care to lay out the physical evidence for the resurrection - and this Easter I invite you to examine it afresh. The other is that the bible knows perfectly well that if the resurrection were just a story it would be no basis for facing death by persecution. There are parables, but there are also realities. This Easter we celebrate the reality of Jesus being alive again. John Hartley
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