[stephenkhoo]

LOVE IS THE EYES OF FAITH THAT ENABLES US TO SEE THE SIGNS OF THE RISEN LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 10:34.37-43; COL 3:1-4; 1 COR 5:6-8; JOHN 20:1-9
http://www.universalis.com/20140420/mass.htm

The Lord is Risen. Alleluia! How do we know? Is this real? Are we just repeating the joy of the Church because everyone is saying so? Even for the disciples it was too good to be true! A dead man raised? Impossible! That was why initially there was only fear and confusion. It was too farfetched! So how did they come to believe in Jesus’ resurrection? How did they come to faith? By extension, how do we encounter the Risen Lord? How can we see Him today? These are the questions that the scripture readings will address today.

In the gospel, we see the growing faith of St Peter. We read that “Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in.” As the head of the apostles, it was necessary that he be the first to witness the empty tomb so that he could later vouch for the church. Hence, St John deferred to him to let him enter in first though he arrived earlier. But equally significant was that he “went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.” This fact is noted to indicate that the body could not be stolen as suggested since the linen cloths were neatly folded. But he had not yet arrived at the conclusion that Jesus was risen. As St John noted, “Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” This means that without faith, the empty tomb means nothing. Empty tomb is not a proof of the resurrection. It only says he is not there. Faith is required to add, “He is alive!”

Similarly, Mary Magdalene was shocked when she could not see Jesus because her love was a self-centered and at most a human love. She did not love Jesus for Jesus’ sake but also for herself. Her faith or love for Jesus did not yet reach divine love and divine faith. She loved Jesus as a human person and remained attached to His body. Thus when “she saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple,”; in dismay she said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.” Without faith and love of a person beyond this life, her conclusion of the empty tomb was that His body was not to be seen. Her faith did not go beyond the earthly. Her love was still human and sensual. She wanted to cling to earthly Jesus. So her attachment to what is earthly blinded her from faith.

Later on the Risen Lord had to instruct her to let go of her earthly love for Him and not to cling to Him as He was going back to the Father. She was blinded by attachment, like someone who is infatuated. Such a person cannot see beyond herself and cannot hear what the other person is telling her.

So what is required for us to recognize the Risen Lord? We need the eyes of intuitive love. The gospel tells us that whilst all could not understand the signs and come to faith, only “the other disciple who had reached the tomb first… saw and he believed.” When St John saw the sign, he immediately intuited that the Lord had risen. Indeed, the eyes of faith require love. Without love, there can be no faith because love requires trust, openness and surrender. The more we love, the more we can see what those without love cannot see. It is just like in a relationship. Why is it that we fall in love with some people but not others? Love has logic of its own and is not always comprehensible by reason. Hence, the resurrection requires an act of faith seen through the eyes of love.

Of course, for love to be responsible, it must be verified not rationally but reasonably. Otherwise, it can be mere infatuation, a figment of our imagination or superstition. There must be signs that accompany love. However, these signs can be seen or understood clearly only by those who have faith. With faith one begins to read the signs clearly, like one who has been loved. It is possible that we are loved and yet are not aware of the fact. This is true of many people. Our parents love us very much and many of us do not know or feel their love. There are times when we take those who love and care for us for granted, not recognizing that they love for us. So without faith, we might not be able to see the signs as love. This is true of the apostles. In spite of the many miracles Jesus worked in His life before them, yet they could not see that Jesus was the Messiah and the Lord of Life. Love changes the way we see people. Love makes us more attentive to those whom we love.

What then are these signs that confirm that our faith is genuine and real? The Acts of the Apostles give us four compelling reasons for St Peter to conclude that Jesus is Risen and is our Lord and Saviour. Firstly, His life on earth corroborates with His claims. Peter said, “You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil.” The power of Jesus to perform miracles for the love of humanity and preach with authority was simply because God was with Him.

Secondly, St Peter said, “Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did throughout the countryside of Judaea and in Jerusalem itself: and also to the fact that they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen, not by the whole people but only by certain witnesses God had chosen beforehand.” This is the testimony of so many people who claim to have seen the Risen Lord. His death was not something to be disputed. The criminal who was condemned to death and now raised by the Father vindicates the authenticity of Jesus’ works, words and life.

Thirdly, they themselves personally encountered the Risen Lord. That they ate and drank with Him meant that Jesus was not a spirit after His death. He was not a ghost but truly alive, since spirits do not eat or drink. Furthermore, that the Lord had instructed them “to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead” means that He is Lord, since judgment is the work of God.

Fourthly, we are told that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. St Peter said, “It is to him that all the prophets bear this witness: that all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.” This is confirmed in the psalms too.

For us today, how do we know that we have seen the Risen Lord? If we have given up our sins and turned our lives to the Lord and accepted His forgiveness and love, our lives would have been changed radically. As St Peter said, “all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.” Indeed, all who believe in Christ as the Son of God who loves us, receive forgiveness of sins because we know that His love overcomes sin and death. Once healed of our past through the forgiveness of Christ, we can now live a new life by starting life anew.

This is what St Paul is exhorting us in the second reading. This entails that we break from our old way of life, the life of sin, immorality, falsehood and selfishness. We are called to live a life of integrity in truth and sincere love. We must become the bread of life to others and not allow the yeast of sin to contaminate us.

Secondly, to the Colossians, he wrote, “Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died.” We are now to focus on living not in the past, nor the present but on eternity; that what we do now and how we live is already a participation and preparation for the fullness of eternal life, the life of the Risen Lord. Indeed, as he said, “and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.”

Finally, the sign that we have encountered the Risen Christ is our desire to spread the Good News we have received and encountered in the person of our Lord with others. If we are like the discouraged and disheartened apostles, and the frightened women of Jerusalem who kept quiet about this marvelous event, then it means we have not yet seen Him. Truly, the only sure sign that Jesus is Risen and that we have seen Him is by our testimony, not just in our words but most of all in the proclamation by our lives of love, joy, freedom and forgiveness.

Let us ask ourselves, “Do we have evidence that Christ is our savior and redeemer? Do our lives show that we are redeemed and saved, or do we still live lives of despair, hopelessness and under the bondage of sin especially of unforgiveness?” Let us take heed of St Paul’s exhortation to live the hidden life of Christ in us.