We could cope—the world could cope—with a Jesus who ultimately remains a wonderful idea inside his disciples' minds and hearts. The world cannot cope with a Jesus who comes out of the tomb, who inaugurates God's new creation right in the middle of the old one.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that an abstract Jesus is manageable, but a resurrected Jesus who transforms reality is not.
N. T. Wright's quote highlights the difference between seeing Jesus merely as a symbolic figure versus recognizing Him as a living reality who challenges and transforms the world. The idea suggests that while people may comfortably accept a version of Jesus that remains confined to personal belief, the true significance of His resurrection holds the power to disrupt the status quo and initiate a profound change in reality and existence.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the impact of faith on personal lives.
The resurrection completes the inauguration of God's kingdom. . . . It is the decisive event demonstrating thet God's kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven." "The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.
True worship doesn't put on a show or make a fuss; true worship isn't forced, isn't half-hearted, doesn't keep looking at its watch, doesn't worry what the person in the next pew is doing. True worship is open to God, adoring God, waiting for God, trusting God even in the dark.
Most of the things that really matter require faith. How do I know that my wife loves me? How do I know that Mozarts Jupiter Symphony is sublime and beautiful? There are all sorts of things which come at a more lowly level than that - How do I know that two plus two equals four? There are different layers, different types of knowing.
To get overprotective about particular readings of the Bible is always in danger of idolatry.
Without God's Spirit, there is nothing we can do that will count for God's kingdom. Without God's Spirit, the church simply can't be the church.
I'm not a universalist, and the way I talk about final loss is this: People worship idols - money, whatever. Their humanness gets reshaped around the idol - you become like what you worship. That's one of the basic spiritual laws.
ALL IMPULSES OF THOUGHT HAVE A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE THEMSELVES IN THEIR PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT.
The soul can split the sky in two and let the face of God shine through.
The frustrating part of being tagged 'controversial' is people go looking for trouble where there isn't any to look for.
History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to psychology.
When you hear someone criticize a policy on the other side, that's fine. But when you start hearing motive-mongering and demonization, stand up to it just as you would if it were something that was racist or sexist. If we avoid the demonization, disagreements can be positive.
As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly.
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