April 2, 2010
Sunday Scripture
The Resurrection of our Lord
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
We have an option — to choose a gospel reading from Luke or from John. The post-resurrection Gospel of John is better known than that of Luke. Let us therefore examine Luke’s version. Jesus was buried before sundown on Friday evening to avoid activity on the Sabbath. When Sabbath rest was over, sundown on Saturday, the faithful women disciples of Jesus prepared spices to anoint the body of Jesus. Early on Sunday morning they came to the tomb. To their surprise, the stone, which sealed the opening of the tomb carved into the hillside rock, was rolled back. By the tomb stood “two men in dazzling white.” The women were frightened and bowed face to the earth.
The two men addressed them, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Recall that he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man had to be delivered into the power of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise.” They remembered Jesus’ words and immediately returned to the place where the Eleven apostles and others were assembled and reported to them. In Luke’s version there were at least five women in this early delegation to the tomb and to the other disciples. Luke mentions Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women.” No one believed the women’s report. They considered it women’s gossip. The witness of women was not considered reliable in those times. That would change in early Christianity.
Mary Magdalene is well-known from the gospels. Luke told us in chapter eight that she was one of several women from Galilee who were disciples of Jesus. All of them had been healed of evil spirits and illness by Jesus. Seven demons had gone out of Mary Magdalene, but there is no evidence in the gospels that she was a former prostitute. That reputation was attached to her by some of the Fathers of the Church including a Pope. They confused her with the sinner-woman in Luke 7. These Fathers have done disservice to this great woman, so important to Jesus and early Christianity, Joanna was well-connected. Her husband was an official in the royal court of Herod Antipas.
Simon Peter thought their report worth investigating. He ran to the tomb and checked out the inside of it. It was empty. He saw the burial cloths Jesus left behind, then returned to the place in Jerusalem where he and the rest of the Eleven were staying. At this time he remained clueless. Luke writes, “He went home wondering at what had happened.” Jesus will appear to Simon Peter later, but not in this Sunday’s gospel. The main points of this gospel reading: proclamation of the resurrection to the faithful women by the “two men in dazzling white,” the women’s report to the Eleven and “all the rest,” and most importantly, Peter’s witness that the tomb was empty.
The two men at the tomb were described once before in the Gospel of Luke — at the transfiguration of Jesus. There they appeared in glory and discussed with Jesus his “Exodus” that was about to happen to him in Jerusalem. They represented the two main divisions of the Old Testament, Torah (Law of Moses) and Prophets. Their presence at the transfiguration proclaimed that what was about to happen to Jesus in his “Exodus,” was in agreement with Torah and Prophets. Therefore Luke brings them back on stage to bear witness again — Torah and Prophets are in accord with the resurrection of Jesus.
They were not angels, even though the women at the tomb thought of them as such. They were Moses and Elijah. Luke will give them one more mission — at Jesus’ ascension, to testify that Jesus had returned to glory and would come back in glory. Happy Easter! Since “Eastre” was the heathen Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring, it might be more Christian to wish each other a Happy Resurrection!
This reading is an exception to the rule that the first reading is taken from the Old Testament. Writing about 50 years after the resurrection/ascension of Jesus, Luke composes a speech given by Simon Peter just prior to the conversion of the first Gentiles. The speech is an example of how homilies were given in Luke’s time. Simon Peter simply recalls the career of Jesus from baptism to resurrection. After recalling the events of a half century ago, Luke affirms the commissioning of Peter and others as chosen witnesses of the resurrection, “who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” He testifies that Jesus will be the final Judge, that the prophets already bore witness to Jesus, that all who believe in Jesus receive forgiveness of sins through the name of Jesus. Good homily!
Paul has just dealt with a scandal at Corinth. In symbolic language he warns his readers that sin pervades the community just as yeast pervades the bread dough in which it has been mixed. “Get rid of the old yeast. Become a fresh batch of dough.” Why? Because “Jesus Christ, our own Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed” for our sins. From now on, instead of living in sin, they (we) must live in sincerity and truth.