Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ has risen! Alleluia!
When Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome discovered the rolled back stone from the entrance of Jesus’ tomb and they encountered a young man dressed in white sitting where Jesus’ body was supposed to be, they were “utterly amazed.” When Simon Peter and the other disciple arrived at the empty tomb, they both saw the rolled up burial cloths without Jesus in them. St. John tells us that the other disciple saw and believed. However, neither Simon Peter nor the unnamed disciple grasped the magnitude of what really happened. Even though Jesus told the disciples many times that he would die and rise from the dead, they did not comprehend what he was saying. How could they?
Can any of us really imagine Resurrection? Nowhere in scripture do we have a description of how the resurrection occurred. No one saw it happen. It was then and it is today a great mystery. Our only physical evidence is a rolled back stone, an empty tomb and some accounts of Jesus appearing to a very select group of people. The Resurrection of Jesus was nothing like the very public raising of Lazarus from the dead. While Lazarus was restored to life, he was still very human and he would eventually die again.
After his Resurrection Jesus was different, he entered into a new and glorious life with God the Father. St. Paul tells us in his Letter to the Romans 6: 9 - 10, “We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.”
It was only after they actually saw and spoke to Jesus several times that the disciples came to believe in his resurrection. We accept and believe in the Resurrection based on faith. And, by that faith, we are blessed. When Jesus showed himself to Thomas, he told him, all the disciples and he tells us, “"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Our belief in the Resurrection is the core of our Christian faith. It is the foundation of our lives as Christians. God the Father, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah tells us, “See, I am laying a stone in Zion, a stone that has been tested, A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation; he who puts his faith in it shall not be shaken.(Isaiah 28: 16). And the Resurrection is the ultimate sign of God’s love for us. God sent Jesus to us to free us “from the law of sin and death” so that we can enter into eternal life with Him.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ has risen! Alleluia!
Lord God, this is the day that you have made!
Raising Jesus from the dead,
and raising us with him,
you have fashioned for yourself a new people,
washed in the waters of baptism,
sealed with the gift of the Spirit,
and invited to the banquet of the Lamb!
Prepare our hearts, Lord,
to celebrate this Easter festival with great joy.
We ask this through your Son,
our Passover and our Peace,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
AMEN.
