Alexander the
great went to Corinth, to see the great philosopher, Diogenes of Sinope.
Alexander was thrilled to meet him. He wished to do him some favour. But
Diogenes replied, “Give me a little of immortality.”
Dear brothers and sisters
man’s search for immortality is as old as man himself. In the Biblical accounts
of creation we read that the serpent tempted Eve with the promise that if she
ate the fruit she would become like God. And Eve could not resist that offer.
She disobeyed God’s command with the desire to become like God.
The Epic poem from
Mesopotamia, “Epic of Gilgamesh” describes the attempts of Gilgamesh to learn
the secret of eternal life. He under took long and perilous journey to find the
secrets of immortality. Finally he was told, “Gilgamesh, what you seek, you
will never find.”
So it was concluded that
human life comes to an end with death. Therefore it is engraved on the
tombstones, “Here lies Caesar”, “Here lies David”, “Here lies John”.
But there is one tomb in
the world that is empty, and the tomb stone does not bear any engraving on it.
That is the tomb lent to Jesus by Joseph of Aramathea. The occupant of the tomb
has overcome death and came to life again.
At dawn, when the women
reached the tomb of Jesus two men stood by them in flashing raiment and asked
them “Why look among the dead for someone who is alive?”
The angels conveyed to them
that Jesus has risen from the dead. And he is no more to be searched among the
dead.
Shakespeare is dust, and
will not come
To question from his Avon
tomb,
And Socrates and Shelley
keep
An Attic and Italian Sleep,
They see not. But O
Christians
May you not meet in spite
of death,
A traveler from Nazareth?
The accounts of Jesus’
resurrection enkindled the spirit of Peter. Only Peter went out to experience
it by himself. The story of his denial of his Master was not a thing that could
be kept silent; and yet he had the courage to face those who knew his shame. He
ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw the binding cloths. He went back home
amazed. Peter realized the messianic prophecies and the teachings of Jesus.
The Psalmist says, “For
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell: neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to
see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness
of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:10). In
other words, though the Messiah had been buried, He would be resurrected
according to the appointed time of God. He would not be in burial forever but
rather He was there to fulfil the Scriptures concerning His death. He must be
resurrected from the dead to prove that the power of death could not overpower
Him.
During the ministry Jesus
did frequently inform His disciples about His death and resurrection. In fact
Jesus made the comparison between His resurrection and the life of Jonah in the
belly of the fish, similarly the Son of Man would be resurrected from the dead
after three days (Matt 12:40).
Peter began to realize the
relation between these teachings and the reality of resurrection. Peter is now
confident of his faith. His sermon bears adequate testimony to that fact. Peter
declared, “You killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of
which we are witness.”
The words, “Jesus is
alive!” were enough to create a great spiritual hunger in the disciples where
emptiness existed because of his death. May these words wipe out the darkness
in us and enkindle our spirits.
Satish