Why Are Protestants So Fixed On The Resurrected Jesus?

[genxcathedra]

You see these movies like Armageddon where Bruce Willis's character blows himself us to save Earth. Why do Protestants, who would like that as well as soldiers doing the same in a war movie, so fixed on Christ's resurrection? That was the easy part. We have Catholic churches that have an unpunished looking Jesus (even a resurrected looking one still affixed to a cross oddly) in a handful of churches. Maybe it is that we selfish, health and wealth country club Catholics and otherwise Christians don't want to face our part in Christ's crucifixion (our responsibility by our sins in that and his agony as well as doing penance for others'--as eternity seems to encompass time and penetrate it somehow, for lack of a better explanation of how we make up for what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ). We like the comfort of a movie, I suppose.

[jeffpugh]

This is a good point you're making. I keep getting the question about why we have a crucifix, because the Lord is risen. Chris Padgett made a remark once that went like "What??? He's resurrected??? We should tell somebody!!" because he's heard that complaint many times. Maybe it IS because we're living in a hedonistic society focused on feeling good and not suffering (anything but that).

[chelsea]

I'm not sure if i fully understand what you are trying to say, but the fact of the matter is that Jesus IS resurrected. One of my favorite quotes, i believe from JPII, its "We are an Easter people and Hallelujah is our song." Jesus is RISEN.

That being said, i think it is very important to remember the sufferings of Christ. The Stations of the Cross is one of my favorite devotions.

[Sojourner]

I Cor. 15:12-19 (NIV)

12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

[Sojourner]

Yeah ... so that's why. They think we focus too much on Jesus' sacrifice and not enough on the resurrection, pointing to these verses. That was a major Protestant criticism of "The Passion".

However, most Protestant churches have a paltry understanding of suffering. We need to view the suffering and resurrection of Christ in tandem; for it is through his suffering that we can become like Christ and be raised with him.

[hoosieranna]

Focusing on the Resurrection (to me) forces home the point that Jesus IS God. It makes his death (the death of God!) even more monumental. This wasn't some nice Jewish boy who had a few good ideas and then died because someone disagreed with him. This was God, taking frail human form, and willing to die for us knuckleheads. At least, that's how it was explained to me.

[Sojourner]

[quote name='genxcathedra' post='1357608' date='Aug 12 2007, 07:55 PM']That was the easy part.[/quote]
By the way, let's not diss the Resurrection as "the easy part." People suffer and die every day. It's only every so often that someone is resurrected. Like, three times recorded in the Bible over several thousand years. It was a pretty big deal, the Resurrection. Is a pretty big deal.

[jeffpugh]

Personally, I'm not denying the resurrection. It IS a pretty big deal. But the resurrection is augmented (at least from my feeble viewpoint) when I focus on his immense suffering. He took all of that mental and physical agony and transformed it in rising from the dead.

[hoosieranna]

I thought I said that...

[jeffpugh]

Maybe you did. Sorry... I'm just dumb sometimes.

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1357736' date='Aug 12 2007, 09:17 PM']I thought I said that...[/quote]
So we agree then.

Cool.

[hoosieranna]

Cool.

[Budge]

Lets say your best friend, is beaten bloody, but somehow survives....{not equated Jesus resurrection with chance but youll see what I mean}

You spend time with your friend, and he comes over to your house and notices you have new gold-lilt frame pictures on the wall, they are of him bleeding, broken and laying in the alley where the gang beat the tar out of him, police photos that you got a hold of.

Is this showing love for your friend?

{the answer is NO}

After I was born again, and came into an actual relationship with Jesus Christ, knowing and loving Him, I ripped down the crucifix I owned and later threw it in the trash can. Same as I would rip down the above police photos. I know what Jesus Christ suffered for me but know that by rising again, He had victory over sin and death. That is one thing that creeps me out about Catholic crucifixes [b]they ALL SHOW JESUS dead [/b]with his head slumped over. I think they are satanic.

[img]http://gary2idaho.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/crucifix-full1.jpg[/img]

[thessalonian]

This is a most interesting question. Jesus said take up your cross and follow me. If one does not take up his cross he is not worthy of being called a disciple. Life is not a bowl of cherries. It is a cross, though one which we know ends in a resurrection. I heard a preist the other day saying that he counceled married couples. He would ask them to produce symbols of what married life would be. They would always come up with joined rings, doves, roses, etc. He would then pull out the cross and say this is what married life is. Dying to self for others. That is the way to salvation.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Budge' post='1357978' date='Aug 13 2007, 08:43 AM']Lets say your best friend, is beaten bloody, but somehow survives....{not equated Jesus resurrection with chance but youll see what I mean}

You spend time with your friend, and he comes over to your house and notices you have new gold-lilt frame pictures on the wall, they are of him bleeding, broken and laying in the alley where the gang beat the tar out of him, police photos that you got a hold of.

Is this showing love for your friend?

{the answer is NO}[/quote]

In this hypothetical situation, this friend isn't God made flesh, so his suffering doesn't offer any redeeming value outside of Christ. Hence, it is gruesome to glorify his suffering. However, through the suffering and resurrection of Christ, redemption and eternal life are made available to the whole human race. But he had to suffer first to experience the resurrection, and in this world it is primarily the suffering of Christ with which we identify (even though there are joys that hint to the resurrection), and in the world to come we'll identify primarily with Christ's resurrection.

[quote name='Budge' post='1357978' date='Aug 13 2007, 08:43 AM']That is one thing that creeps me out about Catholic crucifixes [b]they ALL SHOW JESUS dead [/b]with his head slumped over. I think they are satanic.[/quote]

Actually, that's not true. Yes, most crucifixes portray the suffering Christ, but this thread was started by someone asking about the occasional crucifix seen in Catholic churches with a resurrected Christ. It's also worth mentioning that one of history's most famous crucifixes portrays a resurrected Christ, with his eyes open and looking up to God:

[img]http://www.poorclarestmd.org/sandamiano2.jpg[/img]

I think people like the Cross of San Damiano so much precisely because it balances both the suffering and resurrection of Christ. Of course, it's also filled with meaning with all the images surrounding Christ.

Edited August 13, 2007 by LouisvilleFan