Easter Sunday
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“He saw and believed.”
The gospel passage for Easter Sunday is taken
from the 20th chapter of John and begins with
Mary Magdalene going to the tomb of Jesus and
suddenly finding that the stone had been moved
away. Mary then ran off to tell Simon Peter and
the disciple whom Jesus loved and told them
about it. So Simon Peter and the disciple went
on their way to the tomb. When they came to
the tomb Peter observed the wrappings on the
ground and saw the piece of cloth which had
covered the head of Jesus rolled up in a place
by itself. Though in this gospel passage there
was no mention of anything else but the stone
moved away, the wrappings of Jesus on the ground,
and the tomb empty, we are told that the disciple
whom Jesus loved went in the tomb and “believed”.
Bible scholars help us understand this passage
through the very text of the gospel itself. In
tradition, Mary Magdalene is designated as the
“apostle to the Apostles”. And this passage helps
us see how she obtained that title. It was she
who first noticed that the stone had been moved
away. Also, in another part of the Scriptures,
the Lord appeared to her, and it was she who
announced to the apostles that she had seen the
Lord alive! But after her role as the “announcer”,
the focus is now on Simon Peter and the beloved
disciple. The text tells us that the beloved
disciple “outran” Peter to the tomb - thus
confirming the younger age of the beloved
disciple. Although he reached the tomb first,
he did not enter; it was Simon Peter who entered
and saw the tomb empty. This action belies the
seniority of Peter over the beloved disciple
(and the rest of the apostles). But when the
beloved disciple entered the empty, “he saw
and believed”.
It is easy for us to take for granted our faith
in the Risen Jesus. For we have inherited a
tradition of faith from our parents and from
those whom our parents have inherited theirs.
But in that context of the time of Jesus and
the apostles, everything was still as it were,
“happening for the first time”. And since they
have not received the Holy Spirit yet at Pentecost,
they as yet did not understand the Scripture that
Jesus had to rise from the dead. So their faith
was still a “mustard seed”, planted in them by
the very words of their Master and Savior. What
is surprising though is that even though they
have not yet received the Spirit of Truth in His
fullness at Pentecost, some of them already
exercised their faith in Jesus. And we are told
in this gospel passage that the beloved disciple
“saw and believed” as he went in the empty tomb.
In our Christian life, we often look for signs
so that we may believe in the action or message
of God. But the signs we look for are often
the miraculous, the extraordinary, and those
that defy the laws of nature. Although these
are in themselves helpful for others in their
spiritual journey and in their conversion, these
are not the signs that are really essential.
When we study the gospel passage, we are told
of “ordinary” signs: the stone had been moved
away and the wrappings are left on the ground.
No angels. No sudden burst of light. No
earthquake. Just an empty tomb. But the
beloved disciple “saw” the ordinary “signs”
and “believed”.
Like the beloved disciple in the passage, we
are called to “see and believe” in the Risen
Christ. But to “see and believe” in the Risen
Jesus very simply. By our simple faith in God’s
resurrecting power, we can receive new life from
Him. Everytime we celebrate the Eucharist, we
are to remember that Jesus died for us on the
cross and rose again after three days to tell
us that God can conquer death itself. Everytime
we see the bread and wine consecrated in the
Mass, let us see these as the signs that will
call forth our faith in Jesus and believe in
Him as our Risen Lord.
