JESUS SAYS

Explaining the Gospel message

pains and sorrows?

We believe that our faith stands or falls on the event of the resurrection. St. Paul states it bluntly, “If Christ is not raised from the dead, your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:17). We might be surprised to discover that our faith in the resurrection rests, first, on the empty tomb. Interestingly, the Gospels proclaimed at the Easter Vigil liturgy focus primarily on this fact. The Gospel of Luke, for instance, gives the testimony of the women who went early in the morning to bring spices, only to find the stone moved away and the tomb empty. Two angels appear to them and said, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you … that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified and rise on the third day.” (24: 5 – 9) And they remembered his words.

“He is not here” … these words, taken by themselves, would leave us empty and unsettled. If ‘he is not here,’ then we try to fill in the void. Likewise, the thorns in our life would remain meaningless – only a cause of more pain, suffering, disillusionment, and emptiness. Initially, it is the remembrance of Jesus’ words that begin to shed some light in that dusky and empty space.

Of course, the empty tomb in itself is not enough. The resurrection appearances are absolutely necessary! The Easter Sunday liturgy attests to this. St. Luke recounts Jesus first appearing to two travelers on the road to Emmaus: “And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them … And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted for them what referred to him in all the scriptures.” (24: 15, 25 – 27)

Th ese two disciples unknowingly encounter Jesus, who takes great pains to explain to them the necessity of His Passion. Through the most perfect Biblical exegesis ever given, the disciples begin to understand the “necessity” of the thorns that reveal the beauty of the rose … and their hearts were set ablaze!

Wh en Jesus appears to the Apostles on that same Easter day, there is a surprising twist: “While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you … Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.” (24: 36, 39 – 40).

In Jesus’ resurrection, the evidence of the Passion remains in his hands, feet, and side. Christ