“THEY SAID HE was dead; they knew he was dead; they would say he would not rise again and yet they watched! In the history of the world, only one tomb has ever had a rock rolled before it, and a guard set to watch it to prevent the dead man within from rising: that was the tomb of Christ on the evening of the Friday called “Good.” What spectacle could be more ridiculous than armed soldiers keeping their eyes on a corpse? But sentinels were set, lest the Dead walk, the Silent speak and the Pierced Heart quicken to the throb of life” (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen).
On that first Easter morning Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb and found it empty. The truth was it was not really empty. It contained people and things that were not supposed to be there (angels, two men, light, linen cloth and napkin). The tomb was expected to contain only one thing (the body of Jesus) and that was missing.
It is amazing how differently people react to the same Easter event. The disciple, John, immediately believed what he saw. Peter was sceptical and needed time to grasp the meaning of this miracle. For Mary, it was added pain—she knew her master was killed and now she has lost even the mortal remains of her master.
On this Easter event, it is important to recall the birth of Jesus in parenthesis: Remember, at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, it was announced to two groups of people: to the poor shepherd peasants as well as to the king’s palace! While the angel announced it to the shepherds, the wise men from the East had gone to the palace and announced the birth of a King. The first group went and worshiped him, the latter attempted to kill him.
Something similar happens in his resurrection. For the soldiers who were assigned to guard the tomb, it was a matter of bewilderment—they had no explanations for what they witnessed in that early Sunday morning. They were the only witnesses of the actual event and indeed, they became the first messengers of the resurrection! They reported the incidents back to the authorities, that they have lost the game! Like Herod who tried to kill the new-born King, the religious authorities attempted damage control.
Mary, the first faithful witness to resurrection, is in a hurry to share her fears about the empty tomb. Then, she is exhilarated to see Jesus, the Master Gardener. She runs again to proclaim the message to her community of friends and disciples.
The body of Jesus was gone. But the wrappings that had been around Jesus’ body were neatly folded and placed. We should also pay attention to the amount of running that occurs on that morning. Mary ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple. Then Peter and the other disciple tried to outrun each other on their way to the tomb.
The resurrection story repeats. The message of victory of life and the defeat of death is given to the whole world through. But as it happened in the time of Jesus, some have placed their faith and trust in the resurrection while others continue with their attempts to bury the truth.
To which of these groups do I belong? Does the resurrection compel me to proclaim the Risen Lord as the apostles and Mary Magdalene did? jose CMF
