Worship Weblog

N.T. Wright on the true meaning of Easter

Posted by cicw

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

N.T. Wright, from Surprised by Hope:

Insofar as the [resurrection] is interpreted in [the New Testament], it has a very “this-worldly” meaning, relating to what is happening here and now. “Jesus is raised,” [the apostles] say, “therefore he is the Messiah; he is the true Lord of the whole world; therefore we, his followers, have a job to do; we must act as his heralds, announcing his lordship to the entire world.” It is not, “Jesus is raised, therefore look up into the sky and keep looking because one day you will be going there with him.” Many hymns, prayers, and Christian sermons have tried to pull the Easter story in that direction, but the line of thought within the Gospels themselves is, “Jesus is raised, therefore God’s new world has begun, and therefore we, you, and everybody else are invited to be not only beneficiaries of that new world but participants in making it happen.”

Tags: easter, eschatology, heaven, hope, joy, kingdom, theology, victory