By Jonathan Keller
A documentary retells some snippet of history to satisfy an educational craving. A good documentary narrates a compelling story by weaving together monotony with drama to bring the past to life. Which title is more enticing – “Atlantis” or “Unearthing the Mysteries of Atlantis”? Experts chime in throughout documentaries to give an air of trustworthiness to the story. A good documentary moves me as much as it teaches me.
We can think of the Christian Gospels as a classic documentary about Jesus. Focusing on Easter, I wonder how the Gospel writers wove together the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection? What panorama shots did they leave us? What expert interviews did they record? What did they focus on, and what did they move quickly through?
Before moving to the texts, I want to be mindful of how I put on blinders when I read about Jesus’ suffering and resurrection. I am drawn to the earthly rather than the heavenly aspects of the cross; choosing the cross over the empty tomb signifies my disposition! My mind fixates more on the blood of Jesus’ suffering than its spiritual import. Am I right, according to the documentary of Jesus’ passion narratives, to look more at His cross than His resurrection?
When I look at the Gospels for their words on Jesus’ death and resurrection, I pat myself on the back at first. The circumstances leading up to His crucifixion (His betrayal by Judas, His appearance before the courts) take up a chapter in several of the Gospels, and the crucifixion itself enjoys at least a hearty paragraph in each Gospel. When it comes to the resurrection, John and Luke give quite the exposition on Jesus’ resurrected actions, but the better attested short ending of Mark gives a bleak view of the future of Jesus’ disciples! By the weight of sheer material, the cross seems to be more central to the narratives.
Expert testimony on the matter, though, woos me away from my fascination with Jesus’ death. A Jesus death and resurrection expert, Saul of Tarsus, renamed “Paul,” wrote to a Christian church in the Greek city of Corinth, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Paul claimed earlier in this same letter that the “word of the cross” is a stumbling block to Jews and “folly” to Gentiles; in other words, the message of the cross confounds everyone. For Paul, and presumably for me, the “word of the cross” doesn’t end with Jesus’ death but continues with and has meaning because of Jesus’ resurrection. Without the resurrection, the cross just kills another man. With the resurrection, the cross has killed not another man but death and sin itself.
The grittiness of Jesus’ cross may capture my imagination, but by His Spirit He chose a different message for the documentary on His earthly ministry. Jesus’ cross finds its meaning not in its bloodiness but in its use in the Redeemer’s hands. This documentary lifts me up to the heights to which Jesus rose on Easter and will raise me at the end of all things.