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Soon after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, our Prime Minister, John Key, spoke of the resurrection of Christchurch. He meant the rebuilding and regeneration of the city. As a Christchurch man himself, this came from the heart. In talking of resurrection, he wanted to give people hope amidst the terrible damage the city had sustained. He couldn’t then be specific about the future of the city, but he did commit his Government to support and encourage whatever needed to be done.
Right now we are aware that even the work of demolition is not yet complete; that the city is beset by all kinds of problems. That should not be forgotten. At the same time city planners have already started coming up with models of what the rebuilt city might look like.
I therefore thought that since the word ‘resurrection’ has been used, and because this is the time of Easter, of resurrection, it would be in order to reflect on what the resurrection of the city of Christchurch might mean: the rebuilding and regeneration of the city? Or something more?
To get at the issues involved, I have nutted out five words that sum up what the New Testament means by resurrection, in this case, the resurrection of Christ; and which, by the same token, will serve as bridging concepts from what the Bible teaches to the realities of rebuilding a city. They are: standing, touching, communicating, remembering, prophesying. Let’s look at each in turn to see what light they throw on the resurrection of Jesus and, at the same time, on our vision of the future of a city in ruins.
Raymond Pelly is a Priest and Theologian who works out of the Anglican Cathedral of St. Paul in Molesworth Street in Wellington New Zealand
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