Google doesn’t acknowledge Easter. Or at least the Google doodle doesn’t.
For the past 18 years, the “doodle” logo atop Google’s home page — which is cleverly altered to recognize a person or holiday — has been empty of any visual reference to the empty tomb of Christ. The irony is delightful.
Had cyberspace and digital technology been around at the time of Christ, the news of his death and resurrection would have spread even faster, despite certain search engines’ reluctance to acknowledge it.
The women who went to the burial tomb on the third day and found it empty would have been the first to tweet #heisnothere and #heisrisen.
While the Biblical account doesn’t exactly say the male disciples doubted the women, they did run to the tomb to have a look for themselves. More retweets would have followed: #heisrisenindeed.
Naturally, the opposition would have started a Twitter firestorm with #heisnotrisen #hewasmerelyunconscious and #disciplesstolethebody.
On Instagram, followers would have posted pictures of the empty tomb that had been secured for Christ’s body by Joseph of Arimathea. Quickly, online opposition would have rallied, calling for a boycott of Arimathea Tombs and Crypts and all advertisers. Within minutes, mobs would have called for the resignation of Mr. Arimathea.
On Facebook, people would have been posting, “I can’t believe that Christ has miraculously risen from the dead. This is a picture of the heart in my latte when I heard the news.”
Technology or not, the outcome would have been the same. Some would have believed; some would not.
The questions then are the same questions asked now — How does a man rise from the dead? Can a man honestly claim to be the Son of God? How can one man’s death forgive the sins of others? How can a good God permit evil?
How hard do we search out answers today? Google “Did Jesus rise from the dead” and you have 55,900,000 answers in .51 seconds. Click and done.
Highly respected archaeologist Sir William Mitchell Ramsay spent 15 years trying to prove the historical inaccuracies of the New Testament. Instead, he was convinced of the incredibly accuracy of the book and converted to Christianity.
Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton portrays a man earnestly reading, searching and growing in faith through his middle years until his death at 49. Christianity was a foundational aspect of his thinking, yet entirely absent in the smash musical.
The road to C.S. Lewis’s conversion was lined with much reading and reflection. He was heavily influenced by the writings of G.K. Chesterton and George MacDonald. Lewis wrote in his autobiography, “In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for … A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.”
A life of faith is not a once-and-done moment, like a tweet or FB post. Maturing faith requires the things we are least willing to give — time for reading, reflection, quiet, conversations and prayer.
Seek and you shall find. You may even find that He is risen.
Lori Borgman is a columnist, author and speaker. Contact her at [email protected].
