20260406 IS FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION DEPENDENT ON THE EMPTY TOMB?
06 April 2026, Easter Monday
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 |
Victimae Paschali Laudes
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.
IS FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION DEPENDENT ON THE EMPTY TOMB?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 2:14. 22-33; MT 28:8-15]
The resurrection of our Lord is a unique claim. No religious founders have made the 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 it, all the other claims made 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, at the beginning of the Church, there was a rumour circulating that His body was stolen. So it seems that not all believed that Jesus had died. There were attempts to dispute His death. Some sceptics circulated what was called the “swoon theory,” which claimed that Jesus never really died, or that He was wrongly presumed dead. This was proposed to support another psychological theory — that the apostles were hallucinating after the death of their master and made up the story to proclaim Him as their Lord.
Of course, such a theory is ridiculous. It would have been impossible for the guards to be asleep when the stone was removed, as a few men would have been needed to move such a heavy stone. And we can be sure that Jesus died, as His legs were not broken to hasten His death. Because they wanted to ensure that He was dead, the soldier pierced His side with a lance, and blood and water flowed (Jn 19:31-37). Furthermore, the Romans were never known to have bungled a crucifixion, as it would have cost the soldiers their lives. Even if the body had been stolen, 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? This swoon theory appeals only to those who wish to disprove the resurrection. For this reason, the evangelist suggests that when the guards told the chief priests all that had happened, they were given a considerable sum of money to say, “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 of belief 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, between the 70s and early 90s. The account of the Empty Tomb was never intended to be proof of the resurrection.
At any rate, if the resurrection of Christ depends on the Empty Tomb — that is to say, if the resurrection concerns the same earthly body — then it would mean that we will not be raised, because our bodies become corrupt after death. When we die, our bodies decay; worse still, some are cremated and reduced to ashes. Science tells us that these eventually break down into molecules and may form new bodies. What then will happen at the resurrection if our bodies are corrupted? The truth is that the resurrected body is not simply a continuation of the earthly body. Resurrection is not resuscitation — a return to life in the same earthly body — but a transfiguration. Although it is somehow related to our earthly body, it will be totally transformed. It can pass through doors and come and go as it wills, 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; the resurrected person will not be a different person.
In order to illustrate that the Risen Lord is not a different person from Jesus of Nazareth, even though His body had been radically transformed, it is important to hold that the body of Jesus was not found in the tomb — that this same body had 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 remains a tangible sign that leads to faith. When the disciples discovered the Empty Tomb, it was simply a fact. But just because the tomb was empty does not immediately mean that He is risen; faith must draw 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 is why not everyone saw Him immediately. The apostles, including Peter, initially lacked faith and could not perceive the Risen Lord. Yet the Empty Tomb opened their hearts to faith, and as they surrendered their minds and hearts, the Lord appeared to them. When those who had seen the Risen Lord testified to others, their hearts too became more open. This was the case with St. Thomas, whose faith was strengthened by the courage and testimony of the other apostles.
Only through faith could they begin to understand the Scriptures more deeply. They realised that Jesus’ earthly life corresponded to what had long been foretold in the Scriptures. 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.”
In his Pentecost homily, he cited Scripture to strengthen faith in the Risen Lord. He drew on the words of David’s psalm, which prophesied that the Messiah would not see decay: “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 fulfilment of Scriptures.
Seeing the Risen Lord is analogous to love. 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. So long as we stay out, we cannot experience the love of our beloved. Only those who open their hearts to love can we 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, manifesting His glory in our lives.
The sure sign that we have encountered the Risen Lord is the experience of uncontainable joy and freedom. Belief in the Risen Lord brings a radical transformation in our lives. Like the women, “filled with awe and great joy,” we too will run to share the Good News with others. Those who have encountered the Lord no longer fear the future or their enemies — just as the once-cowardly apostles were emboldened after the resurrection. And the Lord’s message to His disciples remains the same: “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me there.”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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