Homily for Easter, Gospel of St. John 20:1-9. Theme: The Good News of Resurrection
As we heard in today’s Gospel, the tomb of Jesus was found empty. And in other Easter stories we learn how angels delivered the startling news that Jesus was risen to the holy women who had come to the tomb. We are told that Mary Magdalen brings this incredible news of Resurrection to Peter and John. We also hear how many disciples encounter the Risen Lord and share with others the news of their experiences.
However, it takes more than just hearing to truly enter into what the Resurrection means. There were a lot of people in Jerusalem for the Passover on that momentous first Easter morning. And for most, the news of Resurrection was just crazy gossip in the marketplace. It never affected their lives. It never made a difference. But for others, this news of Resurrection changed them from the inside out and they would never be the same. And this variable reaction to the news of Resurrection still happens today.
There are those who hear the Good News of Resurrection yet it remains for them nothing more than a story to be told and retold every Easter. It never really touches their lives. And then there are others who hear the news of the empty tomb and who ponder the experiences of those who interacted with the Risen Lord in person. These people experience a hope beyond hope that leaps up from deep within them and often they can barely explain how it is that they came to believe and are changed!
Once we take a leap in faith and trust in the Risen Lord, he opens our minds to the truth about who he is and he sets us free from the inside out. We begin to see that there really is a much bigger picture to the reality of our existence than only what we experience here on planet Earth. We profess faith in eternal life after death, knowing that it is not just a ‘maybe” or a “hope so”. That it’s not just fantasy nor wishful thinking. We are convinced of this reality because of that Empty Tomb in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago!
Through faith in the Risen Lord, we are not only freed from death’s dark domain, but also from its companion which is paralyzing fear, a fear we have sadly seen way too much of in these days. We who trust in Jesus risen from the tomb refuse to give into such fear. We refuse to give it a significant place in our lives. We who believe in the power of Easter refuse to live and act as if we were still under the powers of darkness and death.
We are not like those who live in such fear and who act as if death still has the last word over us. Those who do not believe become silent in the face of death, not knowing what to say, acting as if they are still its victims, its captives. They need to know that they do not have to remain frozen in that fear.
But we who are Christian are not silent in the face of fear and death. We have been told the Good News of the Empty Tomb. We have been told the testimony of Mary Magdalene and the Apostles. We refuse to be silenced because we know what to say! And so, we speak out and we even sing aloud: Christ is risen! Alleluia! Death has been conquered once for all! Alleluia!
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