Looking for signs of life

 ‘…Why do you look for the living among the dead?… (Luke 24:5)

Luke 24:1-12 (Year C: Easter Sunday)

(In some places the Gospel of Easter Sunday is from John 20:1-18 instead of Luke 24:1-12 which I am using here. Often Luke 24:1-12 is used for the Vigil Eucharist of Easter.  There are differences of detail and emphasis suggesting that Luke and John drew from a third source).

‘And then Peter ‘went home, amazed at what had happened’ (v. 12).  Some Bible translations emphasise a slightly different aspect in this same story:

wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. (King James Version)

Whether amazed or wondering or both Peter was not the only one and today many among us wonder about what really did happen that first Easter Sunday morning. What exactly happened and how it happened was not recorded on a video camera.  However, there is another question about what happened next for the coming 2,000 years.  We should not neglect the latter question by an over preoccupation and intellectual curiosity about he first question. It is enough to believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that this has huge consequences for the way we live our lives today.  Resurrection Sunday – another name for every Sunday and not just Easter Sunday once a year – is about something much deeper than recalling an event 2,000 years ago or fulfilling a duty or a custom to attend Church at least at Easter and Christmas if not in between. 

Human yearnings

The fact is that everyone of us yearns to be risen

• risen from ourselves and the ways of thinking that stand in the way of true human freedom;
• risen from fear of getting old, being sick at some point and facing the inevitable sooner or later; and
• risen from that which holds us back and cuts us off from others (sin by another name).

Whatever way we theorise it there is an essential core to every human being that yearns for freedom, health and flourishing. For us Christians resurrection is our truth and one that we propose to everyone Christian or not.  And, yes, a resurrection 2,000 years ago is a relevant and non-negotiable part of our shared faith no matter how we chose to express it in terms of theology and philosophy. Let’s put it this way: if someone could prove that, beyond all reasonable scientific doubt, the Jesus we know died and his bones have been found in such and such a place then our faith is in vain. As we read in Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 15:13-19):

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Our faith is not in vain

Put another way, we can say that resurrection is no mere fable story or moral metaphor or some esoteric rising of the Christ in our consciousness. Sorry, but Christianity is far too materialist and practical to be reduced to that sort notion. Christ is truly risen! And the proof it is in the way you and I live today and every day from now on.

The tomb was not empty by chance when the women went there. A stone had been removed from the entrance. They had taken the first step in trust not fearing any danger from those guarding the tomb or those who might have been waiting to ambush the disciples of one they had executed. But, before they reached the tomb that stone had been rolled away. These disciples were searching in the wrong place for the wrong thing. Sometimes we search for risen life in mediocre places when the risen life is like a treasure buried deep within us where the kingdom of God is to be found. We set off on pilgrimages to foreign places when we might have built a shrine in the secret places of our heart. We seek satisfaction in status, possession and power over others when, in truth, joy is waiting to catch us by surprise right where we are as we are.  ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead?’ we might ask.  The Living One is here.

Writing a number of years ago, Brother Roger of Taizé, said:

A luminous Gospel insight has come to light after gathering dust for a long time: “The Risen Christ is united to every human being without exception, even if they are not aware of it.”

For people held in captivity and who have been suddenly released, freedom can be a daunting prospect. Adaptation takes time. Reconditioning may be necessary. This may be captured in a few lines of a poem by Gerald McFlynn.

On the morning of the third day I went to the tomb and rolled back the stone. Out came the poor and destitute, the prisoners, Travellers..the old and forgotten… blinking in the sunlight all ready for a new birth.

The late Brother Roger of Taizé composed the following prayer based on a deep lived theology of resurrection:

O Christ, you are united to every human being without exception, even if they are unaware of it. Still more, risen from the dead, you come to heal the secret wound of the soul. And for each person, the gates of a heartfelt compassion are opened.