in space and time, and not just some thought or idea. They speak
56 THE BIBLICAL BASIS
dom at hand, as first heralded by John the Baptist and later by Jesus himself, nor the miracles and signs accomplished by Jesus were empty words. The petition "Thy kingdom come" had not been uttered in vain after all; "this generation," the generation of those alive at the time, was indeed not to pass away before "all these things" had taken place as foretold by Jesus according to Mark
13:30. It became manifest that some of the people who gathered around Jesus actually did not taste death before they had seen the kingdom of God come with power (Mk. 9:1). The disciples truly were not to go through all the towns of Israel before the Son of man came (Mt. 10:23). Now he came, and now "all these things" happened. Peter's confession at Caesarea (Mt. 16:16), at the time premature, was now proven to be right and necessary. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Right and necessary, therefore, was the name "Lord," kyrios, which the disciples had given to their master. It became manifest, in other words, that the eschaton had really begun. All these things were revealed when Jesus, after his death and burial, rose from the tomb and appeared to his followers anew, thereby "coming again" already then and there. He appeared to them not in order to continue his ministry of teaching and healing so to speak during the second part of his earthly life, but to disclose the hitherto hidden purpose of his life and death to his followers and to give them the charge of proclaiming his Lordship and the kingdom now manifest before their eyes. This is, very briefly, the content of the Easter stories at the end of the four Gospels, at the beginning of the Book of Acts, and of 1 Corinthians 15. This is the fact of Easter.
Two preliminary observations about the form of these stories will facilitate our understanding.
1. We must be quite clear that these accounts relate a real event in space and time, and not just some thought or idea. They speak of an empty tomb (Mt. 27:62—66, 28:11—-15), and of the newly
visible, audible and touchable body of Jesus (Lk. 24:39 f.; Jn. 20:24 f.; 1 Jn. 1:1). These characteristics are all mentioned within the context of the story of Jesus and his followers, even of the history of the world (Pontius Pilate!). Christ's appearance is in itself an historical moment, marking the end of all preceding, and the antecedent and the turning point of all coming events. To speak here of a "myth" would be to confuse categories. Easter is an
absolutely unique event.. We must immediately specify that this