Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

 © 2021, Dr. Tamilio

There is a series on Netflix right now entitled Surviving Death.  It is actually a six-part documentary that examines life after death by journalist Leslie Kean.  Kean is also a medium, but she approaches this phenomenon quite objectively.  The documentary includes the work of scholars at the University of Virginia and the prestigious Cambridge University in England.  In other words, these are not quacks or charlatans.  Granted, there are a couple of moments in this docuseries where the objective viewer will say, “Eh…maybe…” but, by and large, these are well-founded claims.

The series looks at near-death experiences, mediums, reincarnation, and people who have received signs from the dead.  I know that some of this does not gel with Christian theology, but it is difficult to watch this series with an open mind and simply dismiss it.  Across cultures and across cross time, people have had profound experiences that prove (at least to them) that there is life after death.

Isn’t this what we all want?  People fear death, because (I think) they are afraid that it is the absolute end.  When you die, the lights go out and there is no consciousness.  You do not exist any more than you did before you were born.  Death means that there is no more you.  If this is the case, then it isn’t hard to identify with the character Meursault in Albert Camus’1942 novel The Stranger.  Meursault is not just an atheist; he is an absurdist.  He is convinced that life has no meaning whatsoever because there is no God, there is no afterlife, there is no plan.  Meursault lives his life and fulfills basic animal needs like eating and something else I cannot mention because the children are with us today.  Meursault goes through the motions.  Nothing matters.  As he faces his death, he holds onto the same belief.

Some may say that if you need to hear stories of near-death experiences to confirm your faith, then your faith is not that strong to begin with.  I disagree.  Although you do not have to read about near-death experiences to have faith, they certainly support faith.

Our universe is vast.  We cannot even begin to comprehend the length, breadth, or depth of it.  Our galaxy (not just our planet) is not even a speck in the grand scheme of things.  There is so much that we do not know about what is out there.  The same is true about what is in here (our heads).  As complex as the macro is (meaning the universe), the micro (human consciousness) is just as staggering.  There is more about what we do not know about ourselves than what we do know.  We see only a sliver of reality.  So much of what is real remains untouched by our minds.

Another reality exists separate from ours.  This “reality” is more real than ours.  This is the realm of God.  There is no way that we can fully understand this other realm.  We are lucky if we can scratch the surface!  When we die, we pass into an alternate consciousness that enables us to see what we cannot see in this state of being.  As Christians, though, we have already received a glimpse of this realm.

The disciples knew that Jesus was going to be crucified.  He told them time and time again.  Matthew 20:18 — “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death.”  They were still surprised when this happened.  The night before the crucifixion, when he shared the Last Supper with his disciples, they were perplexed that one of them would actually betray him.  How could this be!  Little did they know what a few hours would have in store for the rabbi they had been following for three years, which is why Peter said he would never deny Jesus.  When push came to shove, though, Peter denied Jesus three times.

The disciples, like us, also had no idea what was on the horizon: that Jesus would rise from the dead.  Again, he said this would happen, but it is so unbelievable that any doubt they felt (and I’m sure they did) was understandable.

But it happened.  On the Sunday following the crucifixion, the tomb was empty.

The Epistle Lesson that Gloria read from 1 Corinthians 15 a little while ago is one of the most profound theological statements not just about the resurrection, but what it offers believers.  We too will live after we die.  As Paul writes, “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?  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

This is a great syllogism.  A syllogism, for those of you who may not remember Philosophy 101, is a basic argument that is comprised of two premises and a conclusion.  If the premises are valid, then the conclusion must be valid as well.  The classic example is:

Premise #1: All men are mortal.

Premise #2: Socrates is a man.

Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.

Paul says this:

Premise #1: It is preached that Christ rose from the dead and you have faith in that.

Premise #2: Christ was not raised from the dead.

Conclusion: Your faith is in vain.

But Jesus did rise from the dead.  He forged the way for us.  That is the heart of the Good News, my friends.  That is what this day is all about!  Even though humankind fell far short of the life of grace that God intended for us from the beginning, Jesus came to offer forgiveness.  And it isn’t just forgiveness that he offers — Jesus opened the door to eternity!  Through the resurrection, he offers us everlasting life!

I assume that a lot of people who watch that series on Netflix do so with an air of suspicion.  Although a Christian may doubt some of the stories in that series, the basic concepts themselves should not seem so strange to us.  This life is not all there is.  There is something beyond this.  For example, some of the people who have had near-death experiences talk about going through a process that is hyper-real: colors are more brilliant, sounds are more penetrating, and the visions are more vivid.  One man in the series, a man who did not have the best relationship with his father, saw him in heaven and was able to reconcile.  Wishful thinking?  Maybe.  But it was real to him — more real than anything he had experienced before.

This is what we all hope for.  When we die, we will be reunited with those who went before us.  We will see and hear and feel a reality that far exceeds our imagination.  Scripture gives us a foretaste of this because Jesus paved the way.  Its promises ring true.

His followers went to the grave expecting to find a corpse and, instead, they found nothing.  Some of them fled.  Some went into hiding.  Some cried.  Some were overjoyed.  Emotions ran the gamut.  But then, Jesus appeared before them in the flesh.  He had risen.

The story of the disciples is our story.  Jesus appears before us as well in all his glory.  Take heart, my friends.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is risen.  He is risen, indeed!  Amen.