[stephenkhoo]

08 April, 2012, Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection


FAITH IN THE RISEN CHRIST PROPELS US TO LIVE THE PRESENT FROM THE FUTURE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 10:34.37-43; COL 3:1-4; JN 20:1-9

The tragic death of Jesus on the cross was indeed a great scandal to His disciples. Even though Jesus had forewarned them of His imminent death, when it came, it was a shock to them. How could such a good man be put to death in such a cruel and unjust manner?

For us too, when we suffer innocently and unjustly for things that we did not do, we also feel a great sense of injustice. We feel that the world is unfair and God does not care. Indeed, we are faced with so many challenges in our world today.

The untold grave suffering that comes from persecution, pain and injustice can make us fall into despair. Hence the resurrection of Christ is truly a great day of hope. It is the victory over sin and death in spite of the odds. With the resurrection, we are given hope that justice and life will prevail.

However, this hope against all hope is only possible for those who truly believe in the Risen Lord. The question that confronts us today is whether we truly believe that Jesus is risen or whether we still worship the dead Jesus. Obviously the women of Jerusalem, including Mary of Magdala who went to the tomb, were not looking for the resurrected Lord. They were looking for the dead Jesus, since one does not look for the living among the dead. Indeed, this was the response of Mary Magdalene when she could not find the body of Jesus, “’they have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’”

However, in the case of the beloved disciple of the Lord, we read that he “went in, he saw and he believed.” This is what faith is all about. It looks at the objective situation, the signs available, and then with faith, comes to believe that the Lord is risen. Without faith, one cannot see the Risen Lord. The gospel made it clear that the disciples initially could not see the Risen Lord without faith. Furthermore, not all saw the resurrected Lord because of the lack of faith.

How then can we truly believe that the Lord is risen? We too must make an act of faith. But like John, this faith is not a naive faith without some historical foundation. The faith that is expected from us is a credible faith. To share in the Easter faith of the disciples, we must first come to know the historical Jesus. Without some knowledge of the Jesus of Nazareth, it would be very difficult to connect with the Risen Lord.

This means that some preliminary inquiry and study into the life of Jesus is necessary if one is to be disposed to faith in the Risen Lord. This was the way the apostles helped the non-Jews to see that the resurrection of Jesus is in continuity with the life and work of Jesus. Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: “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. 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.”

Secondly, we must go back to scriptures to show how Jesus’ death and resurrection is in continuity with the plan of God. As 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.” Yes, later on when Jesus appeared to the disciples He would explain to them especially at Emmaus how His death and resurrection were all preordained by God. It was necessary for Him to die so that by His resurrection, God’s love would be revealed and sinners would be brought to conversion.

Thirdly, we need to rely on witnesses. Peter said, “Now we are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people and to tell them that God has appointed him to judge everyone, alive or dead.” It is precisely the convincing witnessing of the disciples, not just in personal testimony by words but by their changed lives from one of cowardice to one of courage to speak for Jesus without fear even when intimidated by the religious authorities, that we know for certain that their testimony is true.

But that is not all, we are fortunate, for we have living testimonies of the power of Jesus’ resurrection in the lives of Christians over the last two thousand years who have experienced the power of the Risen Lord at work. We see how Christ has changed the lives of people radically; those under the bondage of sin and Satan, those whose lives appeared to be desperate and hopeless, and those who were sick and found no cure but are now healed by the Lord. Most of all, we have the preaching and authoritative teaching of the Church regarding the Risen Lord at work in our world today.

Hence, it is now left to us to make the act of faith ourselves. After seeing the historical and objective signs of His resurrection, we must now take a further step and make the act of faith in Him through the signs offered to us. We can no longer stay on the sidelines as observers. Today, we are called to take the leap of faith, to believe and come to experience the power of His resurrection.

Indeed, for those of us who have made the leap of faith, we have actually experienced His resurrection in different degrees, depending on how much we have entered into the death of Jesus. To the extent that we share in His death and to the extent we surrender our lives to Him, especially in cases of hopelessness, we would have experienced the resurrection in our own lives.

We must recall our own experiences of resurrection and encounter with the Risen Lord. I am sure you have experienced miracles in your life, whether it is a question of overcoming sin or hopeless situations. Isn’t this what the Church is constantly asking us to do, when at the mass we proclaim the mystery of faith by proclaiming the kergyma, We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again?

Consequently, for us now, even if we find injustices in our lives and are still living in difficult situations, St Paul urges us to live from the future that has already become a reality in Christ’s resurrection. He said, “Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died, 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.” It is this certain expectation that sin and death will not be the last word but love and life, that we can live with hope and without fear, even when we appear to be losing the battle on this earth. Fear is the consequence of believing that evil has control over goodness.

Indeed, the stone that was rolled away was not for Jesus to come out but for us to go in so that we will see that death has been overcome. But most of all, the empty tomb was not simply a silent tomb, that would only be a negative evidence of Jesus’ possible resurrection. The empty tomb invites us to make the leap of faith from “Jesus is not here” to “He is risen.” So faith is required of us all to come to encounter the Risen Lord. ) Let us therefore base our faith simply on the promise of the Lord and His words spoken to the disciples and the Church.

Finally, let us look beyond our suffering and know that salvation lies before us. We can endure all suffering knowing that God triumphs in the end. God is in control and He is still in charge. In the light of the resurrection, we know that there is nothing God cannot do. Because of Easter, we can turn back from our graves. If Jesus can be raised from the dead, there is no evil or impossible situation for God. Yes, let us see life from a new perspective, from the perspective of the resurrection. Let us live holy lives even when we seem to be losers in this warfare against the Evil One because we will triumph in the end. We must struggle against sin and never give up so that sharing in His death, we will share in His resurrection. So even now, in suffering we are filled with so great a joy because of the glorious inheritance promised to us.