The First Easter and the Original Walking Dead

As I write this hordes of the faithful are pouring into the Catholic church around the corner from where I live for "Good Friday". This is the day long ago that Jesus died on the cross for all of our sins … as the legend goes. Set aside the knowledge that genetics and evolutionary biology give evidence that there is no such thing as the "first two humans" (Adam and Eve). It follows that without an Adam and Eve there was no talking snake, no "Original Sin", or no “Fall of Mankind”.

Jesus wasn’t the only one that rose from the grave Easter Sunday! If you will turn in your Bibles with me now to Matthew 27:52-53 we read in God's Word (KJV),

52. And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53. And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

*Also, as you digest the Word set aside in your mind what we know from historians - that messiahs were commonplace in the time of Jesus. Menahem and Simon son of Giora are two examples. Here’s a full list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_messiah_claimants

Most importantly from this passage of Scripture is how much MORE amazing these risen saints are than Jesus. These men that rose from their graves on the same day Jesus rose from his grave were dead MUCH longer than just three days. So the take away from this is that we should be celebrating Zombie-Saint Day over Easter (one man’s resurrection a measly three days after he died). The greater miracle obviously lies with the more extraordinary – the rising zombie saints! Hallelujah! They have all risen! (well maybe not ALL of them... that's excessive)

If we are to believe that rising from the dead is evidence (or required) for claims of being the son of God … well, Jesus has a lot of celestial brothers then! Or we could just admit that even if there were proof that Jesus rose from the dead that would still not prove that he was the Son of God. So throw the holy baby out with the bath water here, my Christian friends.

So join me this Sunday in worshiping the more miraculous, more magical, more incredible, more supernatural, more extraordinary Risen Beings - These precious saints of old that rose from the dead on this same day years ago, stealing Jesus’ thunder with their more impressive resurrection! The original walking dead! - they walked among the living giving witness to God’s glory. 

On this Easter Sunday let's celebrate together this beautiful message of grace from our Lord expressed through raising his son/(himself/and a ghost?) from the dead...

… and a bunch of other random saints as well.huh?

Amen.