I have seen two things that I cannot reconcile. A man dead without question. And that same man alive again. I seek Him, the Nazarene, to ferret the truth.
~Clavius, Risen~
In the film Risen, the centurion Clavius is confronted with something which obviously shakes him to his very being. Something which confronted all that he already knew to be true. One man, witnessed before his eyes to be crucified on a cross, and that same man seemingly alive once again a few days later. Now, this man Clavius was no stranger to death. Indeed, soldiers of the Roman legion faced death on a daily basis. But one man by all intents and purposes dead...and then alive again? This was something the Roman was not prepared for. From my own experience, it is not something many a believer is prepared for as well. See, Clavius watched the man Jesus die upon a cross that day. Everything he knew assured him that Jesus was dead. Yet days later he was once again confronted by the same man he had witnessed slain. How could he explain this to his superiors? Finding the answer to this question sets Clavius off on a quest to "ferret the truth" of the resurrection of the Christ. Along the way, he learns of the saving grace of the Messiah. I have come across many a believer who, hearing of the grace and love of Jesus, continue to seek proof and assurance that He is indeed who He claims to be. On this Easter morning many celebrate the occasion of the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Yet few of those in the crowd in Saint Peter's square in Rome will ever know who Jesus truly is. Many of these believers, like Clavius before them, demand proof that He is indeed the Savior. Oh, they'll tow the church line and celebrate this occasion OF Jesus, but they won't delve deeper into who He is. To many, Jesus was tortured and put to death on the cross (For some Christians this is where His story ends), this is the day traditional religion refers to as Good Friday, aka Holy Friday and Black Friday. Yet, with the hijack of the term by retailers worldwide, I'll simply call it Good Friday. We celebrate the torture and death of Christ. This all leads up to that morning a few days later where His resurrection is commemorated by believers worldwide. Believers who, like Clavius, still search for proof of Jesus.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, termed Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples, then, said to him, "We have seen the Lord!" Yet he said to them, "Should I not perceive in His hands the print of the nails, and thrust my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will by no means be believing." And after eight days His disciples were again within, and Thomas was among them. The doors having been locked, Jesus is coming and stood in the midst and said, "Peace to you!" Thereafter He is saying to Thomas, "Bring your finger here and perceive My hands, and bring your hand and thrust it into My side, and do not become unbelieving but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Now Jesus is saying to him, "Seeing that you have seen Me, you have believed. Happy are those who are not perceiving and believe."
John 20: 24-29, Concordant New Testament
I can recall many a Easter Sunday service where I sat in church worshiping a dead guy. That was my early perception of Jesus. That was what I was being taught about Jesus. My Clavius moment came when a dear friend of mine introduced me to the truth of Christ in me. Wait, most of my life I have been told that Jesus died on the cross and now you're telling me that He's alive and in me? What about that ascending into heaven thing {Acts 1:9-12}? Was I being lied to or was Jesus indeed alive and well in me? I needed to ferret the truth. Needless to say, my own realization of Christ in me came with my own share of demanding proof of what I was being told. How can Jesus be in me? Isn't He in heaven? How can Jesus inhabit sinful man? Like Clavius before me, I searched for the truth of Jesus. Like Clavius, along the way I was introduced into a greater knowing of Him. I came to realize that sin was no longer an obstacle between myself and Christ, because He has provided for the death of sin {Romans 6:6}. I have also been introduced, through the words of the apostle Paul, to my one true identity in Christ {Galatians 2:20}. I feel that Clavius himself uncovered these truths in his own search for the Nazarene. Do not be unbelieving...but believing.
Knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified, for us to by no means to be still slaving for sin, for one who dies has been justified from sin. Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God. Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6-11, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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