{"id":327,"date":"2008-03-21T10:16:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-21T10:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2008\/03\/rejuvenation.html"},"modified":"2008-03-21T10:16:00","modified_gmt":"2008-03-21T10:16:00","slug":"rejuvenation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2008\/03\/rejuvenation.html","title":{"rendered":"REJUVENATION"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The image here is a bit dark, but then it is Nikolai Ge’s Painting ‘The Harbingers of Resurrection’ The picture is of Mary Magdalene coming from the empty tomb, face uplifted to the rising sun, having seen the risen Jesus. She is walking by the old walls of the city of Jerusalem, and in the right foreground there is a downcast Roman centurion walking in the opposite direction– like two ships passing in the night one going forth into light, the other into darkness. I have loved this painting ever since I first saw it in Russia, and it has inspired the following poem. Happy Easter to one and all— Christos Anesti. <\/p>\n

——————-<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Cool of the tomb<\/p>\n

The heat of the sun,<\/p>\n

Returning to remedy<\/p>\n

What was undone.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The spices in hand,<\/p>\n

The ointment in jar<\/p>\n

Daybreak excursion<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t get far. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

The guard was asleep<\/p>\n

The stone rolled away<\/p>\n

The body was gone,<\/p>\n

What could they say?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Did someone steal in<\/p>\n

Under cover of night<\/p>\n

Purloin the body<\/p>\n

Vanish from sight?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Was he moved by the gardener,<\/p>\n

As he cleaned up the mess?<\/p>\n

The women would wonder<\/p>\n

In the midst of distress.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

The angel attendants<\/p>\n

Sat idly by, <\/p>\n

\u2018Why are you weeping?\u2019<\/p>\n

Was their instant reply. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Cruel question or pointless<\/p>\n

Why need they to ask?<\/p>\n

\u2018They have stolen his body,<\/p>\n

And I can\u2019t do my task\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

What kind of cruel villain<\/p>\n

Disturbs the dead,<\/p>\n

Was his death not enough<\/p>\n

Was there no mortal dread?<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Had all of Christ\u2019s miracles<\/p>\n

Led to this end,<\/p>\n

To a grave and a tomb,<\/p>\n

And the loss of a friend?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Could the great Physician<\/p>\n

Not heal himself then<\/p>\n

Not avert disaster<\/p>\n

Not rise up again?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Jairus\u2019 daughter<\/p>\n

The Nain widow\u2019s son,<\/p>\n

The Beloved Disciple<\/p>\n

But what of the One?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Who would come to his rescue,<\/p>\n

Who would champion his cause, <\/p>\n

Who would touch his cold body,<\/p>\n

Who would unwrap the gauze?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

No mortal dared enter<\/p>\n

Was sacrilege done?<\/p>\n

Who stole their poor Jesus,<\/p>\n

God\u2019s only Son?<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Not empty tomb or angels,<\/p>\n

Could assuage such deep grief<\/p>\n

Or convince he was risen, <\/p>\n

Or provide soul relief.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

No vision of the Master,<\/p>\n

No delusion too grand,<\/p>\n

Could overcome disaster,<\/p>\n

Could meet their demand.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018They would see Jesus,\u2019<\/p>\n

He must call them by name,<\/p>\n

No similar stranger<\/p>\n

Their hopes could reclaim.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

But then in an instant, <\/p>\n

\u2018Miriam\u2019 and she ran\u2026 <\/p>\n

And suddenly she was clinging<\/p>\n

To the risen Son of Man.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\u2018Go tell the disciples,<\/p>\n

Go tell them it\u2019s so <\/p>\n

God\u2019s yes to life,<\/p>\n

Is louder than death\u2019s no!\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

So Miriam went proclaiming<\/p>\n

So says the script<\/p>\n

The males maligned the preacher<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s \u2018fantasies\u2019 they quipped. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Empty tomb insufficient<\/p>\n

Angelic vision grand or gruff<\/p>\n

Even an ascended Jesus<\/p>\n

Wasn\u2019t resurrection enough.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

It was Jesus\u2019 appearances<\/p>\n

To friend and to foe<\/p>\n

That turned around history,<\/p>\n

Showed it where to go. <\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

The denier was restored<\/p>\n

The deserters were found<\/p>\n

The women who were grieving<\/p>\n

Were all turned around.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

And Saul the assaulter<\/p>\n

Stopped dead in his tracks,<\/p>\n

Saw Jesus arisen<\/p>\n

And finally turned back.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

And James his own brother,<\/p>\n

Who had previously sneered (Jn. 7.5)<\/p>\n

Began to believe<\/p>\n

Just because he appeared.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

No one witnessed Easter<\/p>\n

At the dawn of that day,<\/p>\n

But they saw the result,<\/p>\n

Meeting Him on the way.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

On the road to Emmaus <\/p>\n

Or in mid-flight from the tomb<\/p>\n

Or hiding in darkness,<\/p>\n

Or near Damascus\u2019 gloom.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t find Jesus,<\/p>\n

No dreams calmed their fears<\/p>\n

What changed their whole lives<\/p>\n

Was when Jesus appeared. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

The story\u2019s too improbable<\/p>\n

NOT to be true,<\/p>\n

And that is why Easter,<\/p>\n

\n

Can still happen for you.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

BW3 <\/span>March 21 2008<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The image here is a bit dark, but then it is Nikolai Ge’s Painting ‘The Harbingers of Resurrection’ The picture is of Mary Magdalene coming from the empty tomb, face uplifted to the rising sun, having seen the risen Jesus. She is walking by the old walls of the city of Jerusalem, and in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nREJUVENATION - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2008\/03\/rejuvenation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"REJUVENATION - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The image here is a bit dark, but then it is Nikolai Ge’s Painting ‘The Harbingers of Resurrection’ The picture is of Mary Magdalene coming from the empty tomb, face uplifted to the rising sun, having seen the risen Jesus. 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A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}