The Reality of the Resurrection: The New Testament Witness

6. The Fundamental Structure of Resurrection Discourse in the Writings of the New Testament and the Problem Posed for the Second Part of the Investigation

197 Chapter 6 The Fundamental Structure of Resurrection Discourse in the Writings of the New Testament and the Problem Posed for the Second Part of the Investigation The first part of this monograph attempted to show how the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are communicated in the writings of the New Testament. The exegetical investigations described resurrection discourse within the universe of discourse of each text or complex of texts. This was done for two reasons. First, the intensity, complexity, disunity, as well as the partially contradictory nature of resurrection discourse in the New Testament was shown. This was done in order to break through the reduction(ism) of exegetical research into the question of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and its connection to the resurrection of the dead in 1 Corinthians 15 and the endings of the Gospels. The hope is that this approach will help avoid the fixation on historical concerns about the character of the appearances of the Resurrected One and about the condition of Jesus’ tomb (empty or not) in service of perceiving the entirety of New Testament resurrection discourse. Second, however, inquiries about the precise syntagmatic, semantic, and pragmatic connections that make talk of the resurrection of the dead in the writings of the New Testament appear plausible, conceivable, comprehensible, and relevant for one’s own life must also be made, without burdening the presentation with further inquiries concerning other conceptions of reality. How do the fundamental assumptions about reality, assumptions that permit New Testament discourse in all its variety to speak of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of the dead seriously and with conviction, actually look? The chief point of New Testament resurrection discourse may be given briefly: The basic conviction is that the God of Israel, as the sacred Scriptures of Israel bear witness to him, is the merciful and just creator 198—The Reality of the Resurrection God, who with his creative power has created everything lovingly and purely for his own sake. This creation theology, which understands the cosmos together with all creatures as coming from the pure love of God, is carried forth by the authors of the New Testament writings. Only this creator God, as the creative God testified to in the sacred Scriptures of Israel, is in a position to raise the dead.1 The resurrection of the dead is no end in itself, but rather serves to establish the justice of God, which has been impaired by the violence of godless powers and men. The resurrection of the dead is narrowly bound up with sin on the creation’s side of the relationship and with the question of theodicy on the divine side of the relationship. It is answered with the conviction that God will ultimately judge both the living and the dead and thus will heal even the damage done to justice. The reestablishment of justice therefore serves creatures who become once again capable of unlimited relationships. It is only under this assumption that creatures can enter into eternal life as an enduring relationship with God and the resurrected Cruci fied One. It also, however, serves as a proof of God’s relational capacity when he will have revealed himself as the just and merciful God in not forgetting acts of violence and above all the victims thereof. He will thereby have achieved his divine justice for the salvation of the entire cosmos and his creatures, ultimately and without any limitations whatsoever. Resurrection discourse in the New Testament weaves a new thread that changes the cloth from the ground up into the web of creation theology , reflection on sin, questions of theodicy, and apocalyptic eschatology : the resurrection of the crucified Jesus Christ. It is not brought in as a powerful miracle of the revivification of a dead man, as one finds in, say, 1 Kings 17 or John 11. Rather, the claim is that the eschatological resurrection of the dead that will take place at the end of time has already definitively begun with the resurrection of the Crucified One. The Cruci- fied One who was raised from the dead was not brought back into his old fleshly life, but rather was taken into divine life that cannot be limited whatsoever by space and time. This exaltation into the life of God made it necessary, however, for the Resurrected One to receive a new body that did not assume the laws of space...