What the Resurrection of Jesus Means: How the “Miracle on Ice” Helps Us Understand What Jesus Did
Like most Americans in 1980, I had little hope that the US Olympic hockey team would be a match for the heavily favored Russian squad, which had won five of the previous six Olympic gold medals. The fact that the US team, the youngest in the tournament, had made it to the medal round was a remarkable achievement in itself.
This was in the old days, when Olympic competition was still trying to maintain its status as an amateur competition. The US team was a collection of college all-stars matched up against the Russian Dream Team, grizzled veterans who towered over the young Americans in both skill and experience.
It was a classic David v. Goliath mismatch, and it still ranks as one of the greatest upsets in all of sports history. After the Americans prevailed, Al Michaels, the announcer who called the game for ABC, tried to put it into context for his American audience: It was like a football team of Canadian college all-stars beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners of four Super Bowls in the 1970s.
But the really odd thing about the contest was the way American TV viewers experienced it. For some reason, the broadcast on ABC was delayed. So we viewers knew about the stunning outcome of the match before we began to watch it unfold on our screens.
The score was tied 2-2 at the end of the first period, and the US fell behind 3-2 in the second. We viewers, knowing that the US would prevail 4-3, could hear the rising anxiety in the voice of Al Michaels. His anxiety was real, of course, because he didn’t know how it would all end.
But the viewers, already knowing the outcome, enjoyed a kind of surreal time-travel experience: in the moment, as Michaels was experiencing it, the situation looked dire. How could the young Americans hope to come back against such an experienced Soviet squad? On one level, it seemed hopeless to us as well. We could sense our chances of victory slipping away as the minutes disappeared off the game clock.
I can still remember having to check myself mentally and emotionally. Yes, it did look bad. Al Michaels’ growing anxiety was appropriate for the moment, and it was hard not to get swept up in it. But at the same time, despite the situation unfolding before our eyes as the match went on, we viewers had a knowledge about the unexpected twist at the end that was opaque to Michaels and the discouraged US fans in the stands there in Lake Placid.
What does this have to do with the Resurrection of Christ?
The Resurrection of Jesus authenticates the promises of God. Because Jesus rose, we have knowledge of the outcome that casts a bright shadow over everything else we see and experience in this broken and ruined world.
When Jesus conquered the powers of sin and death on the cross and in his resurrection, he showed us that his power is supreme, and he pointed us toward that Grand Moment at the end of time when he will return and make all things right. We can hold onto hope not just because we so desperately need it but because, as GK Chesterton put it, “we follow a God who knew His way out of the grave.”
And that changes everything:
Remembering the Resurrection of Jesus changes the way we approach conflict with our spiritual siblings. When we experience sharp disagreement with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can become discouraged because the body of Christ is not more unified, more resilient.
In the moment, it can seem as if Christians are in fact even less gracious than our secular counterparts in dealing with our differences.
But because we know that Jesus rose and will return, we know that God’s Spirit is doing His sanctifying work in our lives and in our fellowships. And we remember that we will live together forever as adopted members of the family of our wise Heavenly Father, who knows how to handle squabbles between His children.
Remembering the Resurrection of Jesus changes the way we see current social problems. In the moment, it can almost seem as if human history is in a death spiral, with no real hope of renewal or restoration.
But because we know that Jesus rose and will return, we don’t lose hope or succumb to cynicism. We know that God is both just and compassionate. And He will ultimately, finally, make all things right.
Remembering the Resurrection of Jesus changes the way we deal with setbacks and discouragement. Yes, we are just emerging from an awful year. In the moment, it seems as if the losses of the last twelve months are overwhelming, and we seem to have lost our capacity as a people to rally together around a common cause.
In the moment, things do look grim.
But because we know that Jesus rose and will return, we realize that the way things are now is not the final chapter. God is sovereign over all things, even in catastrophes like a global pandemic and economic and political turmoil. He is wise and He is good and He will accomplish good for us that is opaque to us now.
Remembering the Resurrection of Jesus even changes the way we grieve: Yes, we do grieve, and yes, in the moment our grief is real. Death is always an outrage and an obscenity.
But because we know that Jesus rose and will return, we know that Death cannot have the last word. Death is already defeated enemy.
Our grief has a different cast. “We do not grieve as others, who have no hope,” Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica (1 Thess 4:13). Ours is not a grief that is mixed with despair but one that bends toward hope.
So, yes, there’s no denying that things do look bad right now. But “right now” is only the moment we’re living in. Because Jesus rose, we know how the Story ends.
And that changes everything.
Persevere,
Paul Pyle
Discipleship Pastor