Easter Sunday, Year B

Easter Sunday Year B

Acts 10:34, 38-42

Colossians 3:1-4

John 20:1-18

Today, the psalmist rightly stated: “This is the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it”, (Psalm 118:24). We rejoice in Christ’s resurrection, the good news, the highest point of our Christian faith, as planned by God! Can you imagine what our Christian faith would be without the resurrection, without Easter day; without this day of hope, without this day of glory? Easter day, today, is the “Feast of Feasts” a “Solemnity of Solemnities.” It is a day that death has not only been annulled but defeated. By his Resurrection Christ guarantees us eternal life. He guarantees us that the Tomb will never be our final destination nor that of our loved ones.  Faith in what we celebrate today, Christ’s resurrection, transforms us from darkness to light and from the feeling of despair to hope. It brings us newness of life.

Of course, the mixed events of Palm Sunday and of the Stations of the Cross of Good Friday, humanly speaking, would have been thought of as a defeat, but divinely speaking the Resurrection is a victory which repairs. This seeming defeat of Good Friday! The passion seems definately humiliating, but the Resurrection glorifies. It is a victorious combat divinely directed, since the tomb was never going to be Christ’s final destination.

Why do we rejoice today? We rejoice because our faith in Christ has been vindicated, truth has triumphed over falsity, justice over injustice and tragedy has turned into comedy.

The story of the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday is the story of the triumph of falsity over truth, of injustice over justice, of evil over goodness. Jesus was falsely charged of crimes he did not commit, and unjustly sentenced to a death he did not deserve. His good friends betrayed him, his trusted companions deserted him and his number one man denied him. The people he loved demanded his crucifixion and chose to have the bandit Barabbas released in his place. It is a story of betrayal and lies, dishonesty and meanness, unfaithfulness and wicked violence directed against an innocent and apparently helpless victim. All this comes to a head on Good Friday when Jesus was scourged, mocked, led on the death march, nailed to the cross where he died after a few hours and hastily buried in a tomb. If that were the end of the story that would be a bad story, a tragedy. But glory be to God it is not.

Death is not the end of the story. There is one more chapter. This is the most important chapter because, as the saying goes, they who laugh last laugh best. And in the last chapter of the story of Jesus we see him rise from the dead in all glory and majesty. He is vindicated. His enemies are shamed and confused. Jesus regains his eternal glory with the Father. He is the Lord who will prevail over all humankind, his enemies included. For us his embattled followers this is good news.

It is good news to know that truth is immortal. We can suppress Truth, accuse it of being a lie, condemn it, torture it, kill it, bury it in the grave but on the third day Truth will rise again. Remember this and do not give up on Truth even when everybody seems to give up on it. Do not give up on Truth; do not give up on Justice. Do not give up on doing what is right. True will always be true. Just will always be just. Right will always be right even when the world around us would have it otherwise. We must learn to believe in the sun even when it is not shining, knowing that by and by it will shine again. It is the end of the story that counts. That is why the church asks us today to rejoice and be glad. Even when we are going through very difficult times: through betrayal, unjust discrimination, lies, misrepresentations; even when the enemy seems to be winning the battle in our lives. Today Christ has won. And we know that in Christ we shall overcome.

Commenting on how quickly Christ’s resurrection was, Saint Leo the Great said in his Sermon (71.2), “That Jesus hastened to rise as soon as possible because He was in a hurry to console His mother and the disciples.” The resurrection of Christ consoles us of the temporary sadness of the Good Friday!

In the 1st reading (Acts10:34, 37-43) St. Luke documents on Peter’s personal life encounter with the Jesus of Nazareth. Born of Mary, baptized by John the Baptist, commissioned and anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach, heal, liberate the poor and the needy, visit those in prison and the down trodden. A similar, account is heard in Luke 4, “the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sights to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor ( Luke 4:18-19). In spite of Christ’s goodness and selflessness, they put Christ to death on the tree, as we witnessed on Good Friday. But on the 3rd day, “today” Peter says, God raised him from the dead.

Besides Peter, Saint Paul in his various preaching ministries bore witness to the resurrection of Christ. In 1 Corinthian 15:3-8  Paul reliably says, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried …raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…appeared to Cephas, then the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive … Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all … he also appeared to me.”

In today’s 2nd readings (Colossians or 1 Corinthians) Paul continues to speak of the resurrection of Christ metaphorically, in a coated language. For Paul (Colossian 3:1-4) the risen Christ is already at the right hand of his Father, waiting for us, who are invited to constantly seek things that “are above”: holiness of life, those virtues, hope, faith and love.

What is the significance of being at the “right hand side?” “Right hand side” in ancient days, represent a pre-eminent place, an important position. The resurrection of Christ, puts us in a better position of joy, hope and union with the Lord.  It has a transforming impact. The resurrection of Christ, Paul says,  is  like clearing the sorrow of the old yeast, old malice, old habits, especially the bad ones,  and making room for the joy of the new yeast, the newness of life ( 1 Cor 5:6b-8). The resurrection of Christ brings us out of the tombs of sadness, selfishness, corruption into life of justice and generosity. It brings us out of the tombs of malice, grudges into a new life of friendliness and forgiveness. Through his resurrection God is calling us out of the tombs of war, violence, terrorism into a new life of dialogue and peace! He is calling us out of the tomb of indifference into a new life of reaching out and actively caring for one another, especially the poor, the aged and the voiceless.

The resurrection of Christ transforms us as it did Mary Magdalene and the disciples of Christ who first encountered the empty tomb (Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20-21).  John’s Gospel specifically states how Mary Magdalene first got to the tomb very early in the morning, out of love and care for Christ. When she found the stone removed from the tomb she ran back to inform Peter, John and other disciples. They all came witnessing the empty tomb and the burial cloths rolled up in a separate place. Christ has been raised! They became a different people, a transformed people.

Though transformed, each of these witnesses to Christ’s resurrection reacted differently in the first place.  Mary ran back with amazement to inform others. Peter and his fellow disciples hurried with Mary to the tomb, and believed Mary’s testimony! Paul, on the other hand, preached this testimony throughout his ministry. Common among these witnesses, is a change, a reaction, a transformation, from one point to another, from unbelief to belief, from lack of understanding to understanding!  Scripture says, they now understood, that Christ “had to be raised from the dead.”

For us today, how do we react to this joyful event? I think we need to be joyful, hopeful, faithful, and truthful in sharing Christ with our neighbors– that God has not abandoned us even in the face of terrorism currently experienced in in our State and in different parts of the world.

It will be useless for us to shout “Alleluia!” without knowing and appreciating what God did for us through His Son. It will be an absurd acclamation if we do not realize how far our Lord Jesus Christ went for our sake and for our salvation. The celebration will be preposterous if we do not pay attention to the details of the resurrection that brought about our salvation.

May the Ressurection of Christ bring us change in how we see the Good Friday; how we handle sufferings, illnesses, failures and life challenges. May it strengthen us in our baptismal promises to denounce sins, selfishness, violence, terrorism, bokoharamism, isisism, for Peace. And may the transforming joy, blessings and newness of the Risen Lord reach to our homes, schools, factories, offices, towns, counties, villages, nations and work places as we celebrate the joy of Easter!