THE TOMB IS EMPTY; HE IS ALIVE

John 20:1-9

            Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This day is a great day. It is the celebration of all celebrations, the feast of all feasts, the climax of Christian faith. There is much to feel good and joyful about this day. Our Lenten observance has come to an end and we can finally proclaim, “Alleluia, Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!” This is a major event of the Christian faith, but very hard for any of us to comprehend. We cannot find in the Scriptures any consistent, unified explanation of the resurrection. Then what makes it believable?

Looking in today’s Gospel reading, you might have noticed that nothing consistent is mentioned about the resurrection of Jesus, but simply it is about an empty tomb. Peter and the other disciple saw that the tomb was empty. I am sure you agree with me that burial clothes, without a body, in an empty tomb does not make a resurrection, does it? But they saw and believed. So how can one see nothing and yet believe? Few things to mention here. First, if the body of Jesus was stolen, why could the thieves uncover it before taking it away and roll the cloth that covered the head in a separate place? I guess thieves could not have time to do that. This order shows that something strange happened. Second, After the death of Jesus the disciples feared a lot and locked themselves in the home thinking that after the Master, it is our turn. How come that, as we heard it in the first reading, they are out proclaiming that he is alive? Where did they get this courage and strength to stand and preach to the same people they feared a lot? And the third reason is his apparition to the women and his disciples showing himself that he is alive. In the gospel reading during the vigil mass we heard two men in dazzling garments saying to the women: why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here but he has been raised. And this is what we celebrate; we believe that he is alive.

In the gospel of today, John's concern is not to defend his belief that Christ is really risen. John is not making a news report where factual details are absolutely necessary. But he is sharing with us his faith not facts. John the evangelist has no other defense but his faith. Through his gospel he is inviting us to believe and enter into the mysterious but exciting life of faith.

            The words “He saw and believed” refer to the reaction of the beloved disciple upon  seeing the empty tomb of Jesus, he believed. It was the “eye” that enabled him to see and believe beyond the death and the empty tomb of the Master. And with his experience the tomb is no longer the end for those who have the eye of faith, the tomb is now a "womb" where believers shall arise with new life as did our Lord! Jesus left the tomb open after His resurrection to show us that death has no power over those who belong to Him. The stone was rolled away not to let Jesus out, but to let us in and see that death cannot hold Jesus, that death cannot hold those who believe in Him!

The empty tomb reminds us that Jesus has conquered death. His is the first resurrection of many. The empty tomb proclaims that God took the greatest evil: death and created out of it the greatest good: life. John, in today's gospel is giving us the lesson that we should  have the eye of faith, the eye which is able to see beyond death and the empty tomb and come to a confession of faith: “he saw and believed”.

This is possible if we allow ourselves to enter into a loving relationship with God so that we may come to understand and believe without further proofs. We have to take our faith from what is unseen – the empty tomb. Faith involves a decision to move beyond what can be proven and to TRUST in God’s words. May the risen Lord grant us this eye of love and faith that we may contribute to enlighten the world where eyes are closed by egoism and injustice.
Stories
A young man made up his mind to attend Easter vigil midnight service. The service was to begin at 9:00 pm, so he decided to watch some Saturday night movie on television to occupy himself before time for service. While watching the movie he fell asleep and woke up much later in the night. It occurred to him that he must be late for church service so he got up and ran all the way to the church. When he got to the church, there was no one in sight. The service was over. All that he saw was a big banner in front of the church which reads: “He is not here, he has risen!” Without meaning to do so, the banner was announcing the important truth that the risen Lord is not confined to church buildings, he is everywhere. The resurrection marks an important shift in the way Jesus makes himself present to his followers. In his earthly life Jesus was in one place at a time. After the resurrection there is no such limitation.

The story is told of a child who began to read the Gospels. Like billions before her. She quickly became charmed by Jesus. Suddenly, she ran out of her room crying hysterically. She ran into the arms of her alarmed mother. She cried: "They killed him. They killed him." Her mother comforted her and then whispered to her, "now go back and finish the story."

A certain kindergarten teacher was telling her students the story of Jesus. In her class was a little boy who came from a non-Christian family. He was paying very close attention to the story because it was all new to him. As the teacher told how Jesus was condemned and nailed to the cross to die the boy's countenance fell and he murmured, "No! That's too bad!" The teacher then went on to tell how on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and came back to life. The boy's eyes lit up with delight and he exclaimed, "Totally awesome!"