20190422 CLEARING THE
DOUBTS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
22 APRIL, 2019,
Easter Monday
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
|
First reading
|
Acts 2:14,22-33 ©
|
|
God raised this man Jesus to life, and
all of us are witnesses to this
|
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.’
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm
15(16):1-2,5,7-11 ©
|
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!
|
Sequence
|
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
yet lives to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what thou didst see
upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Ps117:24
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord:
we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Matthew 28:8-15 ©
|
|
Tell my brothers that they must leave
for Galilee: they will see me there
|
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.
CLEARING THE
DOUBTS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACT 2:14. 22-33; MT 28:8-15]
Christian Faith stands
or falls with faith in the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus were not raised, then the death
of Jesus would have no meaning because it is not salvific. At most, we could
say that Jesus died for a cause, a misguided cause about the Kingdom of God and
who He was. Without the resurrection, there is no way to verify the
claims of Jesus about His Father, the Kingdom of God and His identity as the
Son of God. Only on account that He was raised from the dead by His
Father, could we know for certain that He is Lord and Saviour of all
humanity. The resurrection is the endorsement of the Father for all that
Jesus said and did. It is the vindication of Jesus’ message and claims.
That is why, right from
the onset of Christianity, there were those who felt the need to suppress the
truth about His resurrection, or to ridicule the fact of His resurrection. In the gospel story, we read about
how the Jewish leaders bribed the soldiers to say that “His disciples came
during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” Indeed, truth
is often covered up or distorted, just like fake news, in order to distract
people from having faith. Such distortion of truth is meant to shake the
faith of people so that they will not believe. That is why there are many
people who object to the truth of the resurrection by suggesting that the body
of Jesus was stolen by the disciples of Christ in order to fake the
resurrection.
In truth such arguments
do not hold water at all. Why would the disciples steal a half-dead or a
dead body and then, later on, gather together to proclaim Him as risen and
savior? This would be
against logic. If the disciples were courageous enough, they would have
stood by Jesus when He was arrested and put on trial. Obviously, they
were unorganized and fearful of their lives, thinking that if their master who
was supposedly the miracle worker was not able to save Himself from death, how
could they save themselves from the Romans? What made them change their
minds, transformed them from timid disciples to witnesses of Christ who
preached with boldness? “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John
and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized
them as companions of Jesus. ” (Acts 4:13)
Secondly, for the body
to be stolen is unintelligible. The Romans were never known to bungle in executing
their prisoners and in ensuring that the bodies of the criminals were
guarded. Such negligence would have incurred a death penalty. So it
was utterly unlikely that the Roman soldiers fell asleep whilst guarding the
body. And even if they had fallen asleep, surely they would have awakened
to the sound of the stone being removed from the tomb. This was because
it would have required quite a few people to do it. That was why the women were
asking themselves on the way to the tomb, “Who will roll away the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?” (Mk 16:3) They had not the strength to
remove the stone. “When they looked up, they
saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.”
(Mk 16:4) Furthermore, no one steals a
corpse from the tomb. What would be the use of a dead body? At most, the
robbers would have entered the tomb to take precious items that were left
behind.
So what could be the
reason for the transformation in the lives of the disciples, if not the fact
that He had been raised? Indeed,
through the Easter narratives, the disciples made clear that they saw the
Lord. They were witnesses to His resurrection. St Peter said, “God
raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witness to that.” In the
gospel, we have the Lord appearing to the women, “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.”
Again another objection
raised by skeptics was that there might have been a mass hallucination among
the disciples as a consequence of the loss of their master. They were so sad and depressed that
they started to imagine that Jesus was raised from the dead. However,
nothing is known about the apostles having the inclination to corporate
visions. Precisely, the Empty Tomb story was part of the tradition in
substantiating the resurrection of Jesus. This story was not invented
because it included the women as the first witnesses, whose testimony would not
have been accepted. If the body was found, then Jesus’ resurrection would
not have been proclaimed. Most likely then, if they were to speak of the
resurrection of our Lord, it would have been presumed that it was a ghost that
they saw. After all, no one would be persecuted for claiming to have seen
a ghost.
But precisely, the
disciples were saying that His body was not there and that they saw Him, not as
a ghost but a resurrected body, because He could eat before their very eyes. The Lord said to them, “‘Look at my
hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not
have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were
disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to
eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in
their presence.” (Lk 24:39-42) In
the final analysis, it is true that the empty tomb story does not confirm that
the Lord is risen; but it supplies the circumstantial evidence. Just
because He was not there does not mean that He was raised. Only the
witnesses could testify to the fact of His resurrection.
So has Jesus been
raised? What does it mean for Jesus and for us? Jesus was not raised
simply because God wanted Him to live on. Rather, His resurrection is in
continuity with the Historical Jesus.
This was why St Peter took pains to identify the Jesus of Nazareth as the Risen
Christ. “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.” In
other words, the Resurrected Lord confirms that Jesus of Nazareth was the
Christ, the Anointed One of God. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who
were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. He commanded us to preach to
the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the
living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who
believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:38, 42, 43)
This claim is also in
continuity with the scriptures, especially the Old Testament. Hence, it was not something
invented by the Christians. St Peter cited the Psalm to vouch for the
continuity of God’s plan in Jesus. “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 the 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 16:8-10) Peter explained further how
Jesus is the fulfilment of this prophecy of David. “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 what the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not
abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption.” Jesus’
resurrection was therefore in continuity with the Jewish’ faith.
Hence, as Christians, in
the light of the testimonies and witnesses from the disciples and from the
scriptures, we must not be afraid to defend the resurrection of our Lord and
His Lordship. Jesus
said to the women, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must
leave for Galilee; they will see me there.” Jesus knew that the men would
not believe the women’s testimony. In fact, they would be skeptical and
doubtful. Yet, the Lord assured the women that He would be with them and
so there was no need to be afraid. They must not keep silent even if
others ridiculed their belief. So too, we must not be silent in
proclaiming Christ as risen and that He is the Lord and Saviour of all
humanity.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment