20180402
IS FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION DEPENDENT ON THE
EMPTY TOMB?
02 APRIL, 2018, Easter Monday
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 2:14,22-33 ©
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God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses
to this
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On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and
addressed the crowd in a loud voice: ‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going
to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles
and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as
you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention
and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law.
You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of
Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David
says of him:
I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my heart was glad
and my tongue cried out with joy;
my body, too, will rest in the hope
that you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You have made known the way of life to me,
you will fill me with gladness through your presence.
‘Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is
dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and
knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him
on the throne, what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the
Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not
experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are
witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, he has
received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see
and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11 ©
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Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.’
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps117:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord:
we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 28:8-15 ©
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Tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee: they will see
me there
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Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the
tomb and ran to tell the disciples.
And there,
coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came up to
him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them,
‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee;
they will see me there.’
While they
were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief
priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after
some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these
instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night
and stole him away while we were asleep.” And should the governor come to hear
of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that
you do not get into trouble.’ The soldiers took the money and carried out their
instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.
IS FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION DEPENDENT ON THE EMPTY TOMB?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACT 2:14. 22-33; MT 28:8-15 ]
The
resurrection of our Lord is a claim that is unique. No religious founders
have made this assertion that they would rise from the dead. Only
Christians make this declaration of Jesus’ resurrection. Indeed, faith in
Christ rests entirely on this foundation, without which, all the other claims
by Jesus would have been invalidated. We accept all that Jesus said and
did only because He is Lord and God, which is vindicated by His
resurrection. Indeed, St Augustine remarked that the great thing
about Christians is not that we believe Jesus died but that He rose from the
dead, for even non-believers believe that Jesus died.
But the
gospel tells us that apparently at the beginning of the Church, there was a
rumor that went around that His body was stolen. So, it seems that not
all believed that Jesus had died. There were attempts then to dispute the death
of Jesus. Some skeptics circulated what was called the “swoon
theory”, which claimed that Jesus never really died, or He was wrongly presumed
dead. This was proposed only to support the other psychological theory that the
apostles were hallucinating after the death of their master and made up the
story to declare Him as their Lord.
Of course,
such a theory is ridiculous. It would be impossible for the Guards to be asleep when the stone
was removed, as a few men would have been needed to remove that heavy
stone. And we can be sure that Jesus died as His legs were not broken to
hasten His death. Because they wanted to make sure that He was dead and
for that reason, the solider pierced His side with a lance and then blood and
water flowed. (Jn 19:31-37) Furthermore, the Romans were never known to have
bungled over any crucifixion because it would have cost the soldiers their
lives. Even if the body was stolen, the resurrection is not the same as
resuscitation. And why would they want to steal the body and then
proclaim Him as Lord. If the master could not even save Himself, how
could the apostles save themselves and indeed the whole world? So, this swoon
theory appeals only to those who just want to disprove the resurrection.
For this reason, the evangelist suggested that when the guards told the chief
priests all that had happened, they were given a considerable sum of money to
say that “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were
asleep.”
But this
swoon theory invites us to ask a deeper question. Does faith in the
resurrection of the Lord depend on the empty tomb? Strictly
speaking, faith in the resurrection of our Lord is independent from faith in
the Empty Tomb. The gospel proclaimed by St Paul never mentioned the story of
the Empty Tomb to bolster faith in the resurrection. The gospels were
written much later than the letters of St Paul. They were written only in
the 70’s until early 90’s. It was never intended to be a proof of the
resurrection.
At any rate,
if the resurrection of Christ is dependent on the Empty Tomb, that is, to say,
that the resurrection is concerned with the same earthly body, then it means
that we will not be raised because our body will be corrupt after death. When we die, our bodies will
become corrupt, and worse still, some cremated and reduced to ashes. And
science tells us these would turn into molecules and eventually form new
bodies. What then will happen at the resurrection if our bodies are
corrupted? Precisely, the truth is that the resurrected body is not a simple
continuity of the earthly body. Resurrection is not resuscitation, a
coming back to life of the same earthly body. It is a transfigured body.
Although it is somehow related to this earthly body of ours, yet it will be
totally transformed. It can walk through doors, come and go when one likes as
the Risen Lord did. We will not look the same as we did on earth.
What our faith holds is that the same person, body and soul will be
transfigured, but the resurrected person will not be a different person.
In order to
illustrate that the resurrected Lord is not a different person from Jesus of
Nazareth even though His body had been radically transformed, it is important
then, to hold that the body of Jesus was not found in the tomb. That this same body
has been radically transformed. So, although faith in the resurrection of
our Lord does not depend on the Empty Tomb or even the missing body of Jesus,
it is a tangible sign of faith, and leading to faith. When the disciples
discovered the Empty Tomb, it was just a fact. But just because the tomb
was empty does not immediately mean that He is risen. Faith has to add
this conclusion. The angel said to them, “Do
not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He
has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.” (Mk 16:6)
But we read that “they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and
amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were
afraid.” (Mk 16:8)
Indeed,
seeing the Risen Lord requires faith. That was why not all saw the Risen Lord.
The apostles, including Peter, initially lacked the faith and therefore could
not see the Risen Lord. But the Empty Tomb story opened up their hearts
to faith. And as they surrendered their minds and hearts to faith, the
Lord appeared to them. And when those who had seen the Risen Lord
testified to the others who did not see, their hearts too became more open to
the Risen Lord. This was the case of St Thomas. It was the faith of the
rest of the apostles that gave him the courage to see the Lord in faith.
Only in faith
then could they begin to see more into the scriptures. They came to realize
that the earthly life of Jesus corresponded to the Jesus that was foretold in
the scriptures all the while. St Peter said, “Jesus the Nazarene was a
man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God
worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was
put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you
took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised
him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him
to be held in its power.”
So we have St
Peter preaching the Pentecost homily when he cited from the Old Testament to
bolster faith in the Risen Lord. He cited from the text of the psalm of David when he
prophesied that his descendent would not see death and corruption. “I saw
the Lord before me always, for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest
in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to Hades nor allow your holy one
to experience corruption. You have made known the way of life to me, you will
fill me with gladness through your presence.” (cf Ps 16:7-11)
Only in faith could they see the resurrection of the Lord as the fulfillment of
scriptures.
Seeing the
Risen Lord is analogous to a love relationship. When we love a person,
we believe the person in faith. It takes faith to fall in love with
someone because lasting love is never proven or guaranteed. But when we
allow ourselves to fall in love, we begin to see more of the person, and
believe in him or her more and more. When there is no love, we remain an
observer from the outside. So long as we stay out, we cannot experience
the love of our beloved. Only those who open their hearts to love can
receive love. So too is faith in the Risen Lord. Without faith, we
cannot enter into the resurrection experience.
Today, we can
still encounter the Risen Lord if we surrender in faith to Him. How will
we encounter Him? In a similar but not exactly the same way the apostles
encountered the Lord. We will encounter Him when we allow His Spirit to
dwell in us as the apostles did at Pentecost. St Peter, after receiving
the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues said, “Now raised to the heights by
God’s hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised,
and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.” We
encounter the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit resting on us and showing
forth His power and glory.
The obvious
sign that we have encountered the Risen Lord is the experience of uncontained joy
and freedom. We will experience a radical transformation in our lives
when we believe in the Risen Lord. Like the women, “filled with awe and
great joy”, we too will run to announce the Good News to all. Those who
have encountered the Risen Lord no longer fear the future and their
enemies. This was what happened to the cowardly apostles after the
resurrection. But the same message of our Lord when He appeared to the
disciples was always this, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they
must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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