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Who Believes in Easter Anymore?

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . . . For the
foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of
God is stronger than human strength.”

—First Corinthians, Chapter One

Easter—Does it matter anymore? The world has changed.
For better or for worse things aren’t the way they used to be.
Some call those who go to church that day “deranged”
For thinking that a man could also be a deity.

Only raving lunatics could stomach or digest
The claim a man came back to life three days after he died.
Foolish and unreasonable nonsense to suggest—
Especially from having been both scourged and crucified.

“Dead is dead,” the saying goes, it’s proven every day.
Impossible! Three days without a breath? And then survive?
Folks are in denial who would dare believe or say
That Jesus who was dead as dead stepped from his grave alive.

Skeptics aren’t the only ones who say I am a fool
For thinking and believing Jesus rose to life again.
Early Christians said it too, it went against the rule.
At least that’s what St. Paul said in some words he wrote back then.

So, am I a lunatic or fool to take this side?
Only if the folks who say they saw him living, lied.

.

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James A. Tweedie is a retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He has written and published six novels, one collection of short stories, and three collections of poetry including Mostly Sonnets, all with Dunecrest Press. His poems have been published nationally and internationally in The Lyric, Poetry Salzburg (Austria) Review, California Quarterly, Asses of Parnassus, Lighten Up Online, Better than Starbucks, Dwell Time, Light, Deronda Review, The Road Not Taken, Fevers of the Mind, Sparks of Calliope, Dancing Poetry, WestWard Quarterly, Society of Classical Poets, and The Chained Muse. He was honored with being chosen as the winner of the 2021 SCP International Poetry Competition.

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9 Responses

  1. Cheryl Corey

    Evidently the White House occupant doesn’t truly believe in Easter – why else would they ban Christian symbolism on Easter egg decorations? Even worse – to issue a resolution naming it a day of transgender visibility? It’s disgusting and insulting to those of us who do believe. The blasphemer in chief should be excommunicated.

    Reply
    • Julian D. Woodruff

      Yes. I found myself scratching my head while reading the caution in our church’s program relating receiving communion as a non-believer. Then there’s what St. Paul had to say about unworthy reception.. If the Catholic Church is so concerned about that matter, why is it so “oh, you know … whatever” when it comes to desecration of the Blessed Sacrament and strong-armed promotion of murder by (among many others) perhaps it’s most prominent self-proclaimed adherent?

      Reply
  4. Warren Bonham

    If everyone was rising from the dead, there would be nothing special about Him and what he did for us. The world hated Him then and it still does. This read was a great way to start Easter!

    Reply
  5. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Christ is risen! Let the fools find out in hell. Have a blessed Easter!

    Reply
  6. Margaret Coats

    About the last line, James, the testimony to the Resurrection may be the best attested fact in ancient history, from multiple eyewitnesses who then died for the truth they had witnessed. Glad to be in church!

    Reply
    • James A. Tweedie

      Margaret,

      True as true, but even more impressive to me is their admitting that (at first) they didn’t believe it either. The entire New Testament is an inspired attempt by Jesus’ followers to explain and understand what they had seen with their own eyes. As the Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:1,

      “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”

      If Jesus had stayed dead in the tomb, we would perhaps know is name only as a rabbi who died too young to have gained an influence or repute equal to that of Gamaliel, Hillel, or Akiva.

      Only his resurrection can explain the rise of his influence and following in the aftermath of his crucifixion. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinithians 15:14,

      “… if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

      As one Hindu man once put it in response to hearing the story of Jesus for the first time, “If what this man said to us today is not true, then it doesn’t matter. IF what this man said to us today is true, then nothing else matters.”

      Reply

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