It is interesting to note that included in Jesus’ very last instructions to his disciples is an emphases on his suffering, his death, and subsequent resurrection. These three are the ABC’s and 123’s of the Christian faith. In puzzles me, therefore, that some men, even Christian men, can rise on Easter morning and deny it ever happened.
The Magazine “Christianity Today” has an anonymous advice columnist who goes by the name Eutychus. A lay person wrote in rather distraught about their pastor’s Easter sermon:
Dear Eutychus: (the letter begins)
Our preacher said, On Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think?
Sincerely, Bewildered
Dear Bewildered:
Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails using 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross, hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his heart; embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens. Sincerely, Eutychus
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Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com , May 2004.
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[Previous illustration was updated with more extensive material]