Readings: Acts 10:34, 37-43; Col. 3:1-4; Jn. 20:1-9
Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
1. I always imagine the day of the resurrection to be chaotic! No one expected Christ to rise from the dead. He did. He told his apostles, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” (Matt. 20:18-19). They neither believed him nor took Him seriously. After all, after the above prediction of his death and resurrection, the mother of the sons of Zebedee wanted Jesus to “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” (Matt. 20:21).
2. Like His disciples and apostles, we, too, are inundated with our issues and problems than to be bothered with the resurrection of Christ. You would recall that at the announcement of the birth of Christ, the Angel said: “And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” (Lk. 1:36-37). And so, when Mary went to the tomb and did not find the body, she panicked and ran to Peter and John, who were shocked when they were told, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.” Could it be true? Now they remembered he had said, “He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” (Mt.16:21). The empty tomb made one thing sure, Christ is not in the grave. Could he have indeed been raised! Everyone can see the tomb, but did everyone believe that He had been raised? It is easy to see with our eyes but to believe, and we must have faith. Seeing is nothing; believing is everything. It is when we believe that we see; we walk by faith, not by sight.
3. The resurrection of Christ demonstrates that we are Easter people living in a Good Friday world. We doubt because we are broken and weak. We have anger issues and are short-tempered, stubborn, jealous, ill-mannered, frustrated, and lazy. But the resurrection of Christ assures us that God loves us and that Christ has conquered our weaknesses, sin, and death. We have to believe that to every Good Friday, there is Easter Sunday. We know that every failure has the strength of the risen Lord. Every hurt and wrongdoing we can forgive is a prove of the resurrection of Christ. When we give in charity, say kind words, console, and show compassion and mercy, every visit to the sick or kindness to the oppressed attest to the resurrection and our faith in the risen Lord. We may be weak, but our risen Lord is strong. We are Easter people and so cannot stop singing alleluia. According to Paul: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” (Col. 3:1). “He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.” (Philippians 3:21). The resurrection changed Peter from a coward to a fearless preacher; He changed Paul from anti-Christ to his courageous defender. He changed men and women down through the ages to carry the gospel to the ends of the world. Jesus’ resurrection is an invitation to share in his eternal life. He showed Thomas his wounded hands and side and healed his unbelief. We must reach and touch his wounds so that he may heal us.
4. The resurrection of Christ taught us once more that adversity always brings out the best in humanity. Though we do not know what tomorrow holds, we know who holds tomorrow. Christ has risen, and so we rejoice! May the resurrection of Christ help us to see things and people differently. May it teach us to have a better understanding of the teaching of Christ so that we may be generous, prayerful, gracious, forgiving, loving, tolerant, and accommodating. May we have the same experience that the Apostles had when they emerged from the Upper Room; that filled with the Spirit of the risen Lord, we may speak the word of God boldly so that those who hear us will say, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? …yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.” (Acts 7-11). Rejoice, for Christ is indeed risen. Alleluia!
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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