April 9, 2010
The Christian Journey
How do you react to the news that Jesus has risen?
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
On Easter our children departed for their Liturgy of the Word with a question, “How would you have reacted if you had found Jesus’ tomb empty?” One boy said, “Amazed.” Another, “Freaked out.” A girl admitted “Scared.” Two shrugged their shoulders! Their responses were very natural!
Jesus’ disciples expressed these identical responses upon finding his tomb empty and appearing to them! Matthew 28 recalls that after the angel told the women that Jesus was risen, they went away “fearful yet overjoyed.”
That same Easter Sunday, Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the Gospel throughout the world, make disciples and baptize them. They knelt “worshiping, but doubting,” on the mountain.
After the white-robed young man, sitting on Jesus’ tomb in Mark 16, proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection to the women with the mission to tell Peter and the disciples, the women “fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
Mark recalls how Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, who seems very peaceful about the encounter. When she told Jesus’ companions about her experience, “they did not believe” her. They also “did not believe the two disciples” walking in the country.
Mark’s final appearance of Jesus to the Eleven shows Jesus rebuking “them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after his resurrection.”
In Luke 24, the women ”were puzzled” about not finding Jesus’ body. Two men in dazzling garments appeared; the women were “terrified, bowing their faces to the ground.” When sharing their news about Jesus’ resurrection with the Eleven, “their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them.”
Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem saying, “Peace be with you.” “Startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost,” Jesus showed them his hands and feet to reassure them he was not a ghost. “They became incredulous for joy.” After Jesus’ Ascension, “they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
In John 20, Jesus walks through locked doors greeting his disciples, “Peace be with you.” Showing his hands and feet, “the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” Thomas was not present and said, “I will not believe until I put my finger in his hands and my hand in his side.” The next Sunday Jesus appeared again and Jesus called Thomas forward to do as he demanded whereupon Thomas professed his faith, “My Lord and my God!”
Our emotions are much the same as the first disciples. We no longer look for Jesus in an empty tomb. The risen Lord is everywhere if we look. Different emotions and reactions overtake us!
The death of a Christian desiring only to go to heaven to be with Jesus “amazes” us. This individual has lived his or her entire life for this one goal. We are amazed at the risen Lord who stirs up this desire to be with him forever. Often the Lord hears their last prayer and they die a few days later!
The risen Lord fills us with “incredulous joy” when he heals us through the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick before surgery. It does happen!
The risen Lord calms us with “peace” through the Sacrament of Reconciliation just as he spoke “Shalom” that first Easter evening.
We are “terrified” when facing illness and perhaps death. Does life end in the grave? Or is the Lord’s promise of eternal life trustworthy?
Sometimes “our hearts burn within us” when hearing the Sunday Scriptures or homily, they seem addressed directly to us. Who is speaking to us? Is it not the Living One who cannot be found among the dead?