JOHN 20:1-9
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, EASTER
SUNDAY WAS SPECIAL. WE WOULD GO TO MASS, WHERE OF COURSE THERE WOULD
BE FLOWERS EVERYWHERE AND THE CHOIR WOULD BE IN ITS BEST VOICE;
AFTERWARD WE WOULD HAVE BREAKFAST WITH MY GRANDPARENTS, AND THEN WE
WOULD ALL GO TO THE HELENA NURSERY AND GREENHOUSE, WHICH OPENED ITS
DOORS FOR THE SEASON ON EASTER SUNDAY. THERE WAS A PORTABLE ORGAN
PIPING OUT EASTER MUSIC. THERE WERE PEOPLE DRESSED UP LIKE THE
EASTER BUNNY HANDING OUT TREATS TO THE KIDS. WE WOULD WANDER DOWN
THE AISLES LOOKING AT ALL THE FLOWERS AND BREATHING IN THEIR
FRAGRANCE. AND OF COURSE EVERYONE WOULD BE DRESSED UP IN THEIR
EASTER BEST. IT WAS A MAGICAL TIME, A PROMISE OF NEW BEGINNINGS, OF
THE FACT THAT THERE WERE ONLY A FEW MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL AND THEN
WOULD COME THE SUMMER OF FREEDOM AND FUN.
WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF
WE REALLY BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION? I THINK WE BELIEVE WITH OUR
MINDS, BUT NOT WITH OUR WHOLE BEINGS. IF THERE WAS NO RESURRECTION,
THEN OUR LIVES WOULD BE OVER WHEN WE DIE. AND HOW WOULD THAT AFFECT
US? WE HAVE TWO WAYS TO FACE THAT; ONE IS TO TRY AND CRAM AS MUCH
“LIFE” INTO OUR SHORT LIFE SPAN AS WE CAN; TO MAKE OUR BUCKET
LIST AND GET TO WORK ON IT. AND THERE ARE MANY OF US WHO LIVE LIKE
THIS, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE BLESSED WITH GOOD HEALTH AND ADEQUATE
INCOME. AND THE OPPOSITE EXTREME IS TO SAY, “IT DOESN'T MATTER.”
BECAUSE IF WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS LIFE IS ALL WE HAVE, THEN
THERE IS NOTHING TRANSCENDENT, NOTHING THAT MATTERS MUCH. GLOBAL
WARMING? I WON'T BE AROUND. POVERTY, DISEASE, CORRUPT GOVERNMENT,
PAIN AND SUFFERING – WHAT DOES IT MATTER? I CAN'T DO ANYTHING
ABOUT IT, CERTAINLY NOTHING SUBSTANTIAL. AND EVEN IF I COULD, IN THE
LONG RUN WE'LL ALL BE DEAD.
AND YOU KNOW, THOSE TWO
WAYS OF SEEING THINGS ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
BUT THAT'S WHERE THE
RESURRECTION COMES IN. YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT IN ALL FOUR GOSPELS,
THE RESURRECTION STORY DOES NOT START WITH JESUS TRIUMPHANTLY WALKING
OUT OF THE TOMB; IT STARTS WITH SOME WOMEN FINDING THAT THE TOMB IS
EMPTY. LATER IN THE GOSPEL STORIES, JESUS APPEARS TO HIS FOLLOWERS,
NOT EVERYBODY. AND EVEN HIS FOLLOWERS DON'T RECOGNIZE HIM
IMMEDIATELY; MARY MAGDALENE THINKS HE'S THE GARDENER; THE APOSTLES
THINK HE'S A GHOST. AND THE DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS DON'T
RECOGNIZE HIM UNTIL THEY'VE BEEN WITH HIM FOR A LONG TIME. JESUS
DOES NOT COMPEL US TO BELIEVE, AND DID NOT COMPEL THOSE FIRST
DISCIPLES TO BELIEVE EITHER. BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE
EMPTY TOMB, IT IS ALWAYS A CHOICE – DO WE TAKE HIM UP ON HIS
INVITATION, OR DO WE THINK SOMEONE STOLE THE BODY, OR WHAT PEOPLE
HAVE SEEN IS JUST A MASS HALLUCINATION. THERE WAS ONE ELABORATE
THEORY THAT WHEN JESUS WAS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS, HE WASN'T QUITE
DEAD AND HIS DISCIPLES NURSED HIM BACK TO HEALTH.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE
EMPTY TOMB WITH THE EYES OF FAITH, YOU SEE THREE THINGS.
FIRST, JESUS IS TRULY
ALIVE. HE IS NOT A GHOST, A HALLUCINATION; HE CAN EAT AND DRINK AND
COMMUNICATE WITH HIS FOLLOWERS; AND YET HE IS NOT LIMITED; HE CAN
APPEAR IN A LOCKED ROOM, HE CAN DISAPPEAR FROM THE TABLE IN EMMAUS
WHEN THE DISCIPLES RECOGNIZE HIM. HE CAN ASCEND INTO HEAVEN IN THE
PRESENCE OF HIS DISCIPLES. AND IF JESUS IS TRULY ALIVE, HE HAS KEPT
HIS PROMISE TO US, THAT HE WILL RISE AGAIN. AND THAT MEANS HE WILL
KEEP HIS OTHER PROMISES, ESPECIALLY THE PROMISE THAT DEATH NO LONGER
HAS POWER OVER US. AND OF COURSE HE WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE TO BE WITH
US, EVEN TO THE END OF THE WORLD, FIRST AND FOREMOST IN THE HOLY
EUCHARIST.
SECOND, IT MEANS WE ARE
FORGIVEN. THE EMPTY TOMB IS A NEW BEGINNING. OUR CHRISTIAN BELIEF
IS THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE VERY ORIGINS OF HUMAN NATURE, WE ARE
DISPOSED TO CHOOSE TO ACT PRIMARILY FOR OUR OWN ADVANTAGE, AND TO ACT
AGAINST WHAT GOD WILLS FOR US. THAT'S THE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE, AND
YOU AND I KNOW THAT THIS IS WHERE ALL OUR SINS COME FROM. WE BELIEVE
FURTHER THAT JESUS, WHO IS GOD AND MAN, CHOSE TO RELIEVE US OF THE
CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS, OUT OF NOTHING OTHER THAN LOVE. AND HE DID
THIS BY SUFFERING AND DYING FOR US ON THE CROSS. HAD JESUS NOT RISEN
FROM THE DEAD, ALL OF THIS WOULD BE USELESS – HE WOULD JUST BE
ANOTHER VICTIM OF OUR SINS. BUT IN RISING FROM THE DEAD, HE CONQUERS
SIN AND DEATH, AND THAT IS WHAT HE OFFERS TO US. I MIGHT ADD,
PARENTHETICALLY, THAT NEXT SUNDAY IS DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, AND THE
CHURCH HAS PROMISED THAT THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE SACRAMENT OF
RECONCILIATION DURING THIS SEASON WILL BE GIVEN WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL
BLESSINGS.
THIRD, THE OPEN TOMB
MEANS THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE OK. OR ANOTHER WAY TO PUT IT IS THAT
THE OPEN TOMB IS GOD'S PROMISE THAT NOTHING IS SO BAD THAT HE CANNOT
MAKE GOOD COME FROM IT. AFTER ALL, IN ALL OF HISTORY THERE WAS
NOTHING AS EVIL AS WHAT THE HUMAN RACE DID TO JESUS, THE SON OF GOD.
AND YET, GOD NOT ONLY RAISES JESUS FROM THE DEAD, BUT JESUS BECOMES
WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO BE, PEOPLE WHO ARE GLORIFIED, WHO HAVE NO
LIMITATIONS, WHO ARE DESTINED TO LIVE FOREVER. SOME OF US HAVE
UNDERGONE CRUCIFIXIONS; ALL OF US WILL, SOONER OR LATER. THE EMPTY
TOMB IS PROOF THAT GOD WILL BRING RESURRECTION OUT OF THESE
CRUCIFIXIONS.
WHEN YOU AND I LOOK ON
THE EMPTY TOMB, IT IS NOT JUST EVIDENCE THAT PROVES THAT JESUS ROSE
FROM THE DEAD. AS I SAID BEFORE, THERE ARE OTHER EXPLANATIONS, IF WE
CHOOSE NOT TO BELIEVE. BUT TO THOSE OF US WHO BELIEVE, IT IS AN
INVITATION – AN INVITATION TO LIVE IN A NEW WAY, A WAY THAT INSISTS
THAT DEATH IS NOT THE END. IF WE HAVE ALL ETERNITY, WHAT'S THE RUSH
IN CRAMMING EVERY POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE INTO OUR LIVES? WHAT'S THE
POINT OF GETTING MORE AND MORE STUFF, OF MAKING A BUCKET LIST AND
FRANTICALLY TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING ON IT? AND, IF WE HAVE ALL
ETERNITY, THEN SURE, IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE WE CAN MAKE MUCH OF A
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER IN OUR LIFETIMES, BUT WE CAN BEGIN, KNOWING
THAT WHAT WE START, GOD WILL FINISH, BECAUSE HE BRINGS RESURRECTION
OUT OF CRUCIFIXION. THE EMPTY TOMB SAYS THAT THE GOOD THAT WE DO
WILL ECHO IN ETERNITY.
FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE
TODAY, THE TOMB IS WHERE EVERYONE ENDS UP, AND ONCE YOU ARE THERE,
THAT'S IT. BUT FOR THE CHRISTIAN, THE TOMB IS JUST A STOP ALONG THE
WAY TO A FUTURE SO GLORIOUS THAT WE CAN'T IMAGINE IT. AND THAT'S THE
INVITATION OF EASTER – JESUS CHRIST HAS CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH FOR
YOU AND I. LET US NO LONGER LIVE AS THOUGH THE GRAVE IS THE END OF
EVERYTHING.
