This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad! (Psalm 118:24, Responsorial Psalm refrain for Paschal Sunday) Praise and give thanks to God! (Isaiah 12:4-5) Alleluia!
But, on that early morning of the Resurrection, who
was rejoicing?
According to the Gospel Readings of Paschal Vigil (Matthew
28:1-10(A); Mark 16:1-8 (B); Luke 24:1-12 (C) ) and Paschal Sunday (John
20;1-9), it all began with anxious confusion about the missing body of Jesus
upon discovering that his tomb was empty.
Imagine – you visit the grave of a person dear to
you, bringing some flowers. Then you discover that the grave is a hole in his
grave, as if it were dug out. And you see the buried casket open and empty.
Would you rejoice at the grave? Would you be glad that this person dear to you
had resurrected? Perhaps, your first thought would be who dug the grave and
stole the body.
It was just how the disciples started their journey to
come to terms with the Resurrection of the Lord. They began with fearsome
confusion about the empty tomb, wondering why the body of Jesus was missing
there.
What does it tell you about the disciples, including
Mary Magdalene?
Do you think that they really believed what Jesus
had foretold about his suffering, death and resurrection?
Are we also like them, thinking that we think we
believe but not really sure?
Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke to his disciples of
the prospect of his suffering, death,
and resurrection four times before entering in his passion to death (Matthew
16:21-28:17:22-23; 20:17-19;26:1-2). Despite this, none of the disciples really
believe the resurrection. If they had
believed, then, they would have rejoiced upon seeing the empty tomb.
In the Gospel Reading of Paschal Sunday
(Resurrection Sunday)(John 20:1-9), we see chain reactions of confusion and
fear being passed on from Mary Magdalene, who first discovered the tomb to be
empty to Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, namely, John. She thought that someone taken the body of
Jesus out of the tomb (John 20:2). Having learned from Mary Magdalene about
Jesus’ tomb to be empty, Peter and John raced to the tomb. John ran faster than
Peter (John 20:4). Why? Because Peter’s heart was very heavy with the guilt of
denying Jesus three times (John 18:15-18, 25-27), as foretold by Jesus during
the Last Supper (John 13:36-38).
John only bent down and saw that the tomb as empty,
left with Jesus’ burial cloths, but did not enter (John 20:5). On the other
hand, Peter actually entered the empty tomb and saw the same (John 20:6).
This makes a contrast to the fact that John entered
the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus, but Peter did not enter and stayed
at the gate outside, on the night before Jesus’ death (John 18:15-16a). Then,
John came out and spoke to the gatekeeper and let Peter in (John 18:16b). John was
known to the high priest but Peter was not (John 18:15, 16).
Peter did not follow Jesus into the courtyard of the
high priest, while John did when Jesus was taken there for the inquisition by
Annas for Caiaphas the high priest, until John came to asked the gatekeeper to
let him in (John 18:12-24). Peter entered the empty tomb of Jesus. But John did
not enter (John 20:4-6).
Why was this?
Though the fact that John was an acquaintance to the high priest, Caiaphas (John 18:15-16) made it easier for him to enter the courtyard of the high priest, a true reason for Peter not to enter at first was the same reason why he could not run as fast as John in coming to the tomb of Jesus. It was because Peter was more with fear, compared to John. Peter was prone to fear even before feeling guilty by denying Jesus.
When Peter entered the empty tomb, he saw the burial cloths of Jesus were neatly placed (John 20:7). So, this indicates that the tomb of Jesus was not robbed. It shows that Mary Magdalene’s assumption of the body of Jesus to be taken away was less credible. If the body of Jesus was taken by a grave robber, then, the burial cloths would be scattered.
Then, finally John entered and saw the neatly placed
burial cloths of Jesus, and believed that Jesus rose from the dead as foretold
(John 20:8), though neither he nor Peter understood the scripture that foretold
the Messiah had to rise from the dead (john 20:9).
Where in the Scripture prophesizes the resurrection
of Jesus, the Messiah?
For
you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor let your devout one see the
pit. You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever
(Psalm 16:10-11).
Because
of his anguish he shall see the light; because of his knowledge he shall be
content; My servant, the just one, shall justify the many, their iniquity he
shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the many, and he shall
divide the spoils with the mighty, Because he surrendered himself to death, was
counted among the transgressors, Bore the sins of many, and interceded for the
transgressors (Isaiah 53:11-12).
Though Peter was left in confusion and fear with his
heavy heart of guilt for denying Jesus, John believed the resurrection without
seeing the body of the risen Jesus.
So, nobody rejoiced in the morning of the
resurrection. But, John believed that the empty tomb with Jesus’ burial cloths
neatly folded and placed in the empty tomb, meant the resurrection.
In the Gospel Reading of the following Sunday
(Second Sunday of Paschal Season)(John 20:19-31), contrast John in this Sunday’s
Gospel (John 20:1-9) to Thomas, who did not believe in the resurrection even
though he saw the body of risen Jesus – until he actually put his hand to the
wound marks on the body of risen Jesus.
Jesus said:
Blessed
are those who have not seen and have believed (John 20:29).
Though not yet rejoicing, at least John began to
believe without seeing the body of risen Jesus.
Imagine that you were one of the disciples and
followed him from Galilee to Jerusalem. You had heard Jesus foretelling his
suffering, death, and resurrection multiple times. After the death of Jesus,
after the burial of his body in the tomb, you came back to his tomb and
discovered that it was empty, with his burial cloths neatly placed.
Would you believe that Jesus had actually
resurrected as he foretold? Would the empty tomb with Jesus’ burial cloths
neatly place be enough to be convinced that he rose from the dead? Or would you
need more physical evidence to believe?
Whether you would be more like John or Thomas
depends on your faith. And it determines whether you rejoice sooner or later.
No comments:
Post a Comment