Gospel of 13 April 2020
Monday within the Octave of Easter
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 guards 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.
Reflexion
As different people confront the reality of the empty tomb and a missing corpse, various speculations and theories emerge, even for those who were followers of Christ. All sides, whether they were the enemies of Christ who put Him to death, or the guards who were suppose to stay vigilant, or the women who came to complete the proper burial rituals which were omitted due to the hurried disposal of the body before the Sabbath or the disciples who were still reeling from the whole shocking incident, they all agreed on two points - the corpse is missing and the tomb is empty. The question was how to explain it.
Obviously, they are wondering what could have happened but cannot accept the possibility of the resurrection. Much easier to believe that someone took the body away than it is to believe that a dead man could rise from his grave after three days, and this happened under the watch of the guards.
It’s obvious that there must be a logical explanation for this and someone had to take the blame. The guards are bribed and told to say that the disciples stole the body while they were asleep. They readily took the bribe because it would be far more convenient to say this than to plead guilty for their own negligence. But when you think about it, see how ridiculous this story sounds. If they were asleep, how did they know what happened?
When people do not want to believe something, reason and logic can often go out the window. No amount of proof, evidence or reasoning would be sufficient to change their minds.
We see such rationalisations frequently in those who reject the Christian message or even among those who are already Christians but now find it inconvenient to continue living a Christian life. Both the rejection of God and that of the resurrection is anything but scientific. The real reason is moral. When man chooses to live a life autonomous of any higher authority, he ultimately must rid himself of the source of that authority – modern man believes that God must die in order for him to be set free. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1).
But all, who do take the Gospel seriously and try to live according to its vision, have all the confirmation they need that it is the recipe for a happy and fulfilled life. For those who believe, no additional proof or evidence is needed.
That is why our Christian faith in the resurrection is not based on fiction. All the episodes with the risen Lord confirm that the post-resurrection experiences with Christ were real, visible, and accessible through the bodily senses. The women in today’s gospel fell down before Christ and “clasped his feet.” Ghost do not have feet. And a few women could not all be hallucinating at the same time. This makes the resurrection a firm reality, established on verifiable data, on plenty of eyewitnesses and therefore not a myth.
For Christians, the resurrection is not merely a symbol of faith reborn or of hope revived in the face of death. It is nothing less than the turning point of world history, the one event that changes everything. It is the saving message intended for all nations to hear and embrace. Christ is Risen! He is risen Indeed! Alleluia!