GOSPEL & REFELCTION FOR THE EASTER CELEBRATION OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD.
John 20:1-9
It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’
So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter who was following now came up, went right into the tomb, saw the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
Reflection
Friends, according to the Guinness Book of Records, one the most successful lawyers in the world was a man called Sir Lionel Luckhoo, from Guyana. As a defence attorney, he successfully defended in his career 245 murder cases in a row. He was a man for whom the wool could not easily be pulled over his eyes. He knew what evidence was. He had an uncanny instinct for that which was sound, assured, and true; compared to what was unreliable or false. He could examine an air-tight case and find some loophole and problem with it, and have it dismissed for what it truly was.
When it came to Christianity, Luckhoo presumed, without investigation, that it had too many loopholes to be true, especially the teaching on the resurrection of Christ. He dismissed for years the thoughts of a murdered man rising from the dead. To him, it was just ridiculous. However, a friend challenged him to take his monumental legal skill and acumen, and apply it seriously to the case of Christ, and come to an informed conclusion about Him, especially His death and Resurrection. He accepted the challenge, and spent several years examining the historical data.
Finally, he summarised his conclusion by saying: “I say unequivocally that the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming, that it compels acceptance by proof which absolutely leaves no room for doubt.” An extraordinary verdict, delivered after no loopholes were found! His sincere and deep analysis of Christ had a profound impact on him. Having reached his conclusion, Luckhoo became a devout Christian, dedicating the rest of his life preaching and writing about the historical and legal evidence for Christ’s Resurrection. He became a strong advocate for faith in Christ and he used his legal expertise to demonstrate and debate, the reliability of the Gospels accounts across the world.
Examining and discerning evidence was in short supply that first Easter morning.
All the Lord had spoken of, all the miracles He worked, together with the signs of the rolled back stone and the neatly folded cloths, none of it was corroborating the unfolding truth for the women or the disciples who had come to the unexpected, empty tomb.
It was only gradually, that the fog of grief, fear, and trauma was giving way to help them come to their logical, and reasonable verdict – Christ, as He said He would, and as He did for Lazarus, had risen from the dead.
What those followers of Christ gradually recognised, and came to a judgment about that morning, is what brings us together on this Easter night (day): God has raised His Son to new life. This is the heart, the central truth of our faith. New life is what Easter is about, and new life is what we must be about too.
We now are the witnesses to the extraordinary and continuing case of Christ risen, and we testify that what we have to say is true. We affirm in word and action, that Jesus was the Son of God; that He came into this world; and that He lived, ministered, was crucified and buried, but was then raised from the dead.
The risen Christ is found wherever people are bringing hope to others. We find Him where the most vulnerable are cared for and where people of faith, us, build communities that place Christ at the centre. We find Him among those who are working to resist all the forms of violence, warfare, death, and abuse that saturate our culture. In all of these ways, and many others, the new life Easter, the Risen Lord Himself is present in our life, our Parish, our society and our world. For that, we give thanks this Easter night (day).
So, let us never linger about in doubt. Let us run, as the women and Apostles ran, to declare our beautiful and hopeful truth: Christ is Risen, Christ is alive.
In what we say and do, let us provide for others, the unequivocal evidence which leaves no doubt but that it is all true.
Happy Easter to you all.
Fr Richard
