Now
after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great
earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled
back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like
lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of
him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women,
“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not
here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And
go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He
is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told
you.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran
to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold,
Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and
worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My
brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” Now while they were
going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief
priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the
elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying,
“Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And
if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.”
So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is
commonly reported among the Jews until this day (Matthew 28:1-15).
Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
Matthew tells us that Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary went to Jesus’ tomb after the Sabbath. They went
to finish their work of caring for Jesus’ body, which they had cut short
because of the Sabbath. To their surprise, there is an earthquake, and an angel
descends from heaven. He rolls away the stone from the tomb. The guards
stationed there by Pilate to satisfy the Jews were terrified, as were the women,
not doubt. The angel tells the women not to be afraid; Jesus is risen. This is
the Gospel. There is no need to be afraid of sin, death, and the devil anymore.
Jesus has defeated them once and for all. The proof is in His resurrection. He
was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification.[1]
St. Paul calls Jesus the first
fruits: But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits
of those who have fallen asleep... For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive.[2]
The resurrection is our ultimate goal. We have been united together in the
likeness of Christ’s death through our baptism; we are also united together to
His resurrection. Christ Himself promises, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and
believes in Me shall never die.”[3]
The unbelieving world scoffs at such a notion. How can the dead come back to
life? Because science and their own personal experience tells them that it is
impossible, the world rejects the testimony of the Apostles, and denies that
even Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection, however, is the most
important part of Christianity. Without it, Christianity is just another man-made
philosophy, with an invented set of moral rules, designed to make ourselves
feel better, despite the fact that we know something is very seriously wrong
with us. It becomes for us a wax nose to twist into any shape we wish, to justify
whatever deviant, sinful desires we want to do.
But Jesus’ resurrection is no
fairy tale; it isn’t some kind of metaphor for some man-defined “good”
overcoming “evil”. It is a fact of history. He appeared alive to hundreds of
people. A great crowd saw Him ascend into heaven. If the disciples had invented
Jesus’ resurrection, would they be eager to proclaim Christ as God and man,
crucified and risen, even on pain of torture and death? Would Paul, formerly
Saul of Tarsus, the great persecutor of the Church, reject the religion of his
people, the Jews, and endure a life of hardship, persecution, and finally a
gruesome death, for something he knew to be false? Without the resurrection,
there is no Christianity:
Now
if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among
you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no
resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen,
then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found
false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He raised up
Christ, whom He did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the
dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your
faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen
asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
are of all men most pitiable.[4]
But our hope in Christ isn’t
merely for this world. It is also for the world to come. Because He lives, we
will live also.[5]
He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead: For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.[6]
Then those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the
Lord. We will then be free from sin, free from death, free from all mourning
and sorrow. All tears shall be wiped away. With a perfect resurrection body,
like that of Our Lord, we will live with Him forever in the new creation.
Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
[1]
Romans 4:25
[2] 1
Corinthians 15:20, 22
[3]
John 11:25-26
[4] 1
Corinthians 15:12-19
[5]
John 14:19
[6] 1
Thessalonians 4:16
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