1: [Gen. 1:1-2:2]; 2: [Gen. 22:1-18]; 3: [Exo. 14:15-31, 15:20-1]; 4: [Is. 54:5-14]; 5: [Is. 55:1-11]; 6: [Bar. 3:9-15, 32-4:4]; 7: [Ezek. 36:16:17a, 18-28]; Epistle: [Rom. 6:3-11]; Gospel: [Mt. 28:1-10]
Joseph of Arimathea was a very wealthy Pharisee, a member of the Council, and a secret follower of Jesus. It was Joseph who went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. And it was Joseph who gave the tomb for Jesus’ burial. There is a joke about Joseph giving the tomb to Jesus.
Someone pulled him aside and said, “Joseph that was such beautiful, costly, hand-hewn tomb. Why did you give it to someone to be buried in?”
Joseph answered. “He needs it only for the weekend.”
This is the only tomb in history that had been used only for the week weekend. When we visit any burial ground, we found written on the tomb here lies so and so. But the tomb of Jesus remained empty after two days. The tomb that was guarded by an armed 16 member
Roman Guard detachment was found empty on Easter Sunday.The reading from the Gospel of Matthew [Mt. 28:1-10] recounts the event surrounding the glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. When Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb early on the Sunday morning, they were greeted by an angel who told them that Jesus had been raised. Accordingly, the women should go and announce the good news to the disciples, telling them to go to Galilee where they will see Jesus again. But it was difficult for them to understand those words.
A man was surprised to read the announcement of his own death in the obituary column of the local newspaper. Ringing up his close friend, he enquired, “Did you see the announcement of my death in the paper this morning?” “Yes,” was the frightened answer in a shivering voice. “But where are you speaking from? Heaven or Hell?”
This must have been the feeling of all the people who encountered Jesus after his resurrection. This great mystery was hard to grasp for those who first became its witness. Mary Magdalene doesn’t recognize him either by sight nor by sound. Peter and John could not grasp the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus appeared to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, they did not recognize him. (Luke 24:13–32). The Apostles remained away from the society. They had no courage to come out. And Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
My friends in Jesus, the death of the Lord is not just a fairy tale. It was witnessed by the soldiers who crucified him. It was witnessed by the authorities who wanted him to die. It was witnessed by the noble women. It was witnessed by many people in Jerusalem.
According to an ancient Russian Orthodox tradition, the day before Easter was devoted to telling jokes. The reason was to reflect the joke God pulled on the devil in the Resurrection. Satan thought he won when Judas betrayed Jesus. Satan thought he won when Jesus was arrested. Satan thought he won when Jesus was subjected to trial; when the soldiers put the crown of thorn on his head; when the soldiers humiliated him; when he carried the cross to Calvary and when he was crucified. But God had the last laugh on Easter Sunday when rose from the dead.
In the Paschal sequence we hear the following words: ‘Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous; The prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.’ This sums up the paradox of the paschal victory over Satan and sin. Just at the moment when the devil believed that he had won the definitive victory, he lost through his very trap, that of death. This is a paradigm for our Christian hope.
The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith. The Resurrection is the greatest of the miracles. That is why St. Paul writes: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your Faith is in vain… And if Christ has not been raised, then your Faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins… But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Cor 15:14, 17, 20
Without the Resurrection, Jesus would have remained forever a good person who had met a tragic end. People would remember some of his teachings, and a handful of people might try to live according to them. All the basic doctrines of Christianity are founded on the truth of the Resurrection. “Jesus is Lord; He is risen!” (Rom 10:9) was the central theme of the preaching of the apostles.
There is a story of two women who stood before Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. One asked, "Why can't we build structures like this anymore?" Her friend answered, "The people who built this had Faith. Today we have only opinions. And you can't build a cathedral with opinions."
The church of Jesus is built on the faith on the resurrection of Jesus. And Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement in this world of pain, sorrows and tears. It reminds us that life is worth living. Our trust in the all pervading presence of the Risen Lord gives us strength to fight against temptations and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears.
At the dawn of that great day for humanity we, too, are called to live each morning as a great new dawn, a great new victory, a great new invitation to encounter Christ risen, even if we don’t understand too much, let our hearts tell us, yes, alleluia, he is risen, he is risen in Jerusalem, he is risen in each one of our hearts.
As our Holy father admonished in his message, today we can go home proclaiming, “Jesus is risen”
Satish