“What does Resurrection mean? Why believe?”
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is the Easter Vigil: the night on which the power of darkness was utterly defeated. Today’s readings (eight and the Gospel, of which we have taken four and the gospel) trace the history of our salvation: from creation, through the disfigurement of creation by sin, the promise of salvation through the prophets, to the fulfilment of that promise through the death and glorious resurrection of Jesus the Christ. (These readings are as follows: Genesis 1:1-2:2; Genesis 22:1-18; Ex 14:15-15:1; Is 54:5-14; Is 55:1-11; Baruch 3:9-15,32-4:4; Ezekiel 36:16-17a,18-28; Romans 6:3-11; and Mt 28:1-10). The Christmas bells rang with joy: “Holy night, holy night on which the Savior of the world took on human form.” This night the Church resounds with the echoes of an even greater joy: Lumen Christi!!! Alleluia! Rejoice, For the Lord is Risen as He Said!
The birth of Jesus at Christmas brought great joy to the world. It was a birth in fulfilment of the promise of God to redeem humanity. However great this joy might have been, it was threatened and seemingly ended by the great “disaster” of Jesus’ death on the cross (as the liturgy of yesterday commemorated). At his death, fear, distress, and anxiety were again enveloping the world, as the fearful disciples wept with bitter tears to behold the one in whom they had hoped hanged upon the wood of the cross, bruised and derided, helpless and lifeless. The One whom many had thought was to redeem mankind had himself been killed and laid in the tomb, as though swallowed up by death. And this is when the story gets interesting! When the grief-stricken women stole their way in fearful haste to the tomb at that very first sign of dawn, bearing spices to anoint his corpse, lo and behold, the stone was rolled away, and the body was not there! As they stood perplexed, two angels appeared to them, and said to them: “Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here; he has risen: Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee: that the Son of Man had to be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified, and rise again on the third day?” (All four evangelists report this Easter morn appearance of Jesus, slight variations notwithstanding – cf. Lk 24:1-12; Mt 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-8; Jn 20:1-18).
At last, he was right! Jesus’ words had come true! He is risen! He is not among the dead! Alleluia! It was only when all was seemingly lost, when utter darkness seemed to have engulfed the world, that there burst forth the antiphon of greatest joy, a joy which surpasses the joy at the dawn of creation and at the incarnation. It is the joy of that final victory, the joy of salvation won once and for all, the joy of an immense light that dispels the severest of darkness – it is the joy of the Resurrection. After all, his death was not the end! We rejoice and are glad: Alleluia, the Lord is risen as he said!
But what does the Resurrection mean? Jesus’ resurrection is not something anyone ever saw or imagined. It is far beyond the limits of human experience. Recall that when the disciples were coming down from mount Tabor after the Transfiguration: they were perplexed by Jesus’ saying that he would ‘rise from the dead’. They asked one another what ‘rising from the dead could possibly mean’ (Mk 9:9-10). The Resurrection is something totally and completely new. The resurrection of Jesus is no resuscitation of a corpse back to an earthly form of life, like Lazarus (Jn 11:1-44) or the daughter of Jairus (Mk 5:22-24); or the son of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:11-17). All of these came back to a normal human life, and after some time they died definitively (cf. p. 242-3 of Ratzinger’s Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2).
No! “Jesus’ Resurrection was about breaking out into an entirely new form of life, into a life that is no longer subject to the law of dying and becoming but lies beyond it – a life that opens up a new dimension for human existence” (Ibid., 244). This is what St. Paul professes, “that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.” And in our baptism, we too were indeed buried with him by being baptized into his death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (Romans 6:3-11 - read today). The complete newness of Jesus’ resurrection is the pledge and hope of our own resurrection. For in his resurrection, Jesus has entered the vast breadth of the All-Holy-God, and with him, humanity too has entered the holiness of God and the ‘otherworldly’ existence of God.
The Resurrection stands at the heart of our faith. For as St. Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man” (1 Cor 15:14, 20-21). Indeed, everything about Jesus, the Old Testament prophecies about him, the gift of his Body and Blood on Holy Thursday, the redemptive power of his death on Good Friday, and Jesus as the New Passover Lamb, Jesus as the new and eternal covenant between God and humanity – everything - stands or falls depending on the Resurrection. So, we rejoice and proclaim, Alleluia! For the Lord has risen indeed!’
But why do we believe Jesus is risen?
1. We believe on account of the apostles, and the men and women who witnessed the appearances of the risen Lord. Today’s Gospel describes the puzzling experience of the women at the tomb of Jesus with revelation from the Angel that he has been raised. In the other accounts, He appeared to Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, and Salome. Why did he only appear, and was not with them as before? Because he was in a totally new form of existence. In this form of existence, he could pass through locked doors (Jn 20:19). Yet, he was no ghost, “for they were able to touch his hands and feet, and to eat and drink with him.” (Acts 10:40-41; Lk 24:39-44; Jn 20:27).
2. We believe on account of the witness of these men and women. The very doubt, puzzle, and confusion the apostles expressed at Jesus’ saying that the Son of Man would ‘rise from the dead’ (Mk 9:9-10), tells us that they could never have made up a story of what they themselves had totally no idea what it meant. Even more, fearful and locked up as they were at the time of Jesus’ death, they suddenly burst forth fearlessly witnessing to the resurrection, to the point of shedding their blood. Nothing but the power of the resurrection and the certainty of their own rising from the dead could have accounted for their courage and fearless witnessing.
3. There is also what is known as the negative sign of the resurrection, that is, the empty tomb. The tomb is still empty! Jesus is not there! Think of all the measures the Jews put in place to guard the tomb, put a seal on the stone and posting a guard to watch over it (Mt 27:66). None of these could hold back the Lord of life!
4. In retrospect, re-reading scripture from the point of view of the resurrection, everything – from beginning to end – makes perfect sense. Indeed, the Lord has risen from the dead! Alleluia! May the mystery of the Resurrection dispel the darkness of whatever fear or doubt in us and fill us with confidence in life. To God be the glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Anthony D. Lawir,
Pastor, St. Agnes and Our Lady of the Snows Parishes, Pittsfield and Dexter.