Resurrection: Doubt, Hope and Showing Up
- John Scoble
- Nov 10, 2025
- 5 min read
Butterfly Series #46 Resurrection
Resurrection sits where faith and doubt meet. This Butterfly conversation explores how the first witnesses grappled with surprise, how the Church learned to tell the story, and how resurrection keeps unfolding in our lives now.
The panel names the grace of “noticing” rather than proving, honours the women at the tomb, and invites a grown-up faith that can hold ambiguity, science, and mystery together. Resurrection is not only an event in the first century or a promise after death. It is a pattern of divine life that keeps calling us to wake up, clean up, grow up, and show up with hope.
Highlights
The Gospel variations remind us that truth often arrives through many voices. Experience rarely speaks in one tone. Their differences reflect real memory, reflection, and unfolding understanding, not a tidy or scripted tale.
Recognition takes time. Emmaus and the garden show continuity and holy difference at once.
Women lead the witness. The story begins in the voices that were often sidelined elsewhere.
Resurrection enlarges reality. Think transformation of the whole self, not a simple return to former conditions.
Practice over proof. Live the rhythm now: wake up to presence, clean up shadow, grow up in perspective, show up in love.
What we learned (Time-stamped highlights)
Different Gospel accounts are a feature, not a flaw.
The variety of resurrection stories points to lived experience rather than tidy myth-building. The panel notes that the Gospels do not try to make the story smooth. They let it be layered, surprising, and real.“Having different Gospel accounts is something I am very comfortable with.” [7:28–7:54]
Recognition takes time.
Resurrection does not arrive like a headline but like a quiet shift in perception. On the road to Emmaus and in the garden, recognition comes through relationship and presence, not instant certainty. “There is something different, but also something the same.” [16:00–16:38]
Women lead the witness.
The first voices that proclaim resurrection are those who were often dismissed in public life. The story begins with the ones who stayed, listened, and showed love to the end.“Women are central to this.” [8:38–9:18]
Resurrection enlarges reality, it does not undo death.
This is not a simple return to life as it was. It is transformation of the whole self. Margaret’s seed and plant image expresses continuity becoming fullness. “Our future existence is like the plant that grows from a seed.” [27:10–27:40]
Practice over proof.
Resurrection is meant to be lived, not solved. The pattern is daily: wake up to presence, clean up old stories and shadow, grow up in perspective and compassion, show up in love and justice. “The first resurrection is waking up in this lifetime.” [33:30–34:06]
Resurrection as the experience of the community.
The early witnesses did not talk about abstract doctrine. They spoke of encounter, change, and courage to love again.“Resurrection is not the experience of Jesus. It is the experience of the people who were there.” [12:18–12:31]“ Jesus is alive. That was the expression they used.” [12:39–12:45]
Hope that dances around dark corners.
Resurrection faith does not deny grief or endings. It moves with courage through them, trusting a life that continues to rise. “Belief in the resurrection sends us dancing around dark corners trusting in a tomorrow we cannot see.” [10:17–10:25]
A spirituality that becomes action.
We show resurrection when we forgive, include, risk kindness, tell the truth, hold the hurting, and do not turn away. “I seek to be resurrection for others, but I also have to be resurrection for myself.” [45:24–45:57]
Reflective Prompts
Where am I being invited to recognise life where I assumed only endings?
Which practice helps me notice rather than control: silence, Scripture, examen, or service?
How might I honour the first witnesses by amplifying sidelined voices today?
FAQs for Butterfly Series #46: Resurrection
What do Christians mean by resurrection if the Gospel accounts differ?
Resurrection means God brought Jesus through death into a new mode of life that still bore continuity with the Jesus his friends knew. The four Gospels tell the story from different angles to highlight recognition, mission, and worship rather than laboratory proof. Difference here serves theology and testimony.
Why did some disciples fail to recognise the risen Jesus at first?
The texts emphasise surprise and transformation. Recognition often arrives through a relational cue like hearing one’s name or a familiar action like breaking bread. These scenes underline both continuity and change in the risen Christ. Source: Bible Gateway – Luke 24 and John 20
How does Paul talk about the “resurrection body”?
Paul contrasts perishable with imperishable and natural with spiritual to signal transformation of the self, not abandonment of embodiment. His seed and plant image suggests continuity becoming fullness.
Source: Bible Gateway – 1 Corinthians 15
Is resurrection only a future hope, or also a present practice?
It is both. The early Church proclaimed Jesus is alive, and Christians learned to live resurrection now through baptismal life, mercy, justice, and Eucharist. To “show up” with compassion is to let resurrection pattern our ordinary days.
Source: Center for Action and Contemplation – “Action and Contemplation”
How can I hold faith and doubt together without losing heart?
Treat doubt as a doorway to deeper trust. The witnesses themselves wrestled with fear and confusion. Practices like the examen, simple contemplative prayer, and honest conversation with community steady the heart while questions do their refining work.
At St Lucia Spirituality we believe the journey is richer when it’s shared. If you’re seeking a place to explore questions, practice mindfulness, or simply belong to an inclusive spiritual community, we invite you to join us. From online discussion groups and meditation gatherings to our growing library of resources, there’s space here for every seeker. Step into the conversation, connect with others, and discover how community can nurture your spiritual growth.
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Related Reflections in the Butterfly Series
Waking Up - Awareness is the beginning of transformation.
A reflection on noticing presence in ordinary life and learning to trust the quiet invitations within. Read here: https://www.stluciaspirituality.com/post/waking-up
Growing Up - Wisdom expands as our perspective widens.
Exploring how wisdom forms across the lifespan and how perspective matures with experience, relationship, and humility. Read here: https://www.stluciaspirituality.com/post/growing-up
Cleaning Up - Healing begins with gentle curiosity, not judgment.
Looking gently and honestly at the parts of ourselves that need healing, repair, or release. Read here: https://www.stluciaspirituality.com/post/cleaning-up
Showing Up - Love becomes real when it takes form in action.
The movement from inner awareness into embodied love and service in the world. Read here: https://www.stluciaspirituality.com/post/showing-up
Streams of Development - Spiritual maturity moves through multiple dimensions of growth.
How our emotional, relational, cognitive, ethical, and spiritual capacities grow together over time. Read here: https://www.stluciaspirituality.com/post/streams-of-development
About the Author
John Scoble
John's journey began in the heart of a traditional Roman Catholic family in Sydney, where he was raised with steadfast faith and reverence. Now residing in the serene surroundings of St Lucia, Brisbane, alongside his beloved wife, John finds solace and inspiration in the tranquil rhythms of life. With four adult children and a cherished grandchild also calling Brisbane home, John's family is his anchor, providing love, support, and a sense of belonging.
While spirituality has always been a cornerstone of his life, it was three transformative events in 2012, including a sacred pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, that ignited a profound shift in John's spiritual trajectory. Embracing retirement as an opportunity for deeper exploration, John immersed himself in extensive reading and soulful reflection.
Over the course of a decade, this journey of self-discovery has led John to reevaluate and transcend many of his traditional beliefs, embracing instead the timeless wisdom and cosmic perspective inherent in Christianity. Influenced by luminaries such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Avila, and Richard Rohr, John's spiritual evolution has been marked by a deepening resonance with the essential truths of his faith and a profound connection to the divine unfolding within and around him.
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