THE POWER OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION

Christianity: our lives, testimonies and faith are marked by the power of Christ’s resurrection. The power of the resurrection above sins and its consequence: death. It is also the power over the forces of evil, spirits or demons, and the Devil.

Hence, like St. Paul, we should strive to know only Christ and the power of his resurrection because this is our empowerment over sin, death, evil spirits, demons and the devil himself.

WHAT DOES THE RESURRECTION MEAN?

The resurrection means that Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who in his public ministry consistently acted and spoke in the person of God, was brutally put to death by Jewish and Roman authorities. He rose bodily from the dead as he promised he would and appeared alive to his disciples.

Luke vividly describes Christ’s bodily resurrection when he asserts: While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have Luke 24:36-39.

The event of the resurrection, though a mystery, is not an abstraction. Neither is it a symbol of the moral or spiritual state of affairs? The bodily resurrection of Jesus is one of a particular man from the dead.

THE RELIGIOUS CONTEXT OF WHAT HAPPEN TO US AFTER DEATH

Why we die or what happens to us after death is one of the mysteries of life, faith and science. This has led to many speculations and doctrinal teachings about God and man. However, the Jews in the biblical context have different views of what happens to us after death.

1.      Death is just the end of life. Once we die, we go back to dust, and that is it. We are dead, and it is over. This is the perspective of the Sadducees in Jesus’ time. Mark 12:18, Acts 23:8.

2.      There is also the belief that the dead go to a kind of shadowy underworld. It is called Sheol in the scriptures. It is similar to what we find in Greek or Roman mythology. Ps. 88:3, 5, 11; Job 28:22, Ezekiel 28:8.

3.      Another belief is the quote from Prophet Daniel that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them Wisdom 3:1.

4.      There is also the belief that the souls of all the dead will come back to life in the hope of a general resurrection Ps. 16, 22.

This is the context of the belief system or mindset that the resurrection of Christ occurs. Hence, it was difficult for the disciples to comprehend the event and its mystery.

OUR THEMES

The readings of the Sunday invite us to know and testify to the power of the mystery of Christ’s resurrection. However, something unique and outstanding from the readings is that the resurrection’s testimony is a personal experience with the resurrected Christ.

This tells us that the resurrection is an article of faith. It is also very much a personal experience with the Risen Christ.

MEANING OF EASTER

The Significance of Easter: “Easter” literally means “the feast of fresh flowers.” Easter is the greatest and most important feast in the Church. The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith. It is the greatest of the miracles, for it proves that Jesus is God.

That is why St. Paul writes: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your faith is in vain” (I Cor. 15:14). “Jesus is Lord, He is risen” (Rom 10:9), was the central theme of the kerygma (or “preaching”), of the Apostles

Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection. Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will live even though he dies…” (Jn 11:25-26).

The readings of this Easter Sunday invite us to reflect on the reality of Christ´s resurrection and the commissioning to be his witnesses as the people of the resurrection.

FIRST READING: ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10:34, 37-43

In Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter, through the power of the Resurrected Christ, gave a first-hand testimony to what he and others saw, heard, and lived. Christ’s life, healing, preaching, and teaching ministry, his passion, death, and resurrection made them authentic witnesses of the gospel of Christ.

SECOND READING: COLOSSIANS 3:1-4

In the epistles, Paul gave an inspired testimony of the resurrection, drawing from his personal experience with the resurrected Christ. In his letter to the Colossians 3:1-4, St. Paul explains to us the total effect or implication of Christ’s resurrection.

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” That is, our hearts, our personal life, our existence, our faith and Christian life and activities must be oriented in the Resurrected Christ.

ALTERNATIVE SECOND READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8

In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, St. Paul admonishes us: For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival of the Christian life not with the old leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 THE GOSPEL: John 20:1-9

John gives us Mary Magdalene’s eyewitness account in the gospel, the first person to know of the Risen Christ, followed by Peter and John’s experience.

Fundamentally, the resurrection of Christ is both a personal and a communal experience.

JESUS’ VICTORY IS FOREVER OVER

1. Satan, his demons and evil spirits. Col. 2:15, John 12:31, 1 John 3:8, Eph. 1:20-21

2. Death: both spiritual and physical, and all forms of death, as well as the grave. Rev. 1:18,

3. Sins and their consequences. Rom. 6:10, Hebs. 10:1-10

4. Evil of any kind John 16:33, Rev. 12:11, Eph. 6:10-18, Col. 1:12-13, Luke 10:19

Yet, it is the victory that makes us ALLELUIA people. People of hope and praise. Above all. People of testimony and authentic witnessing are among all.

WHY DO WE SHOUT ALLELUIA? 

This is the Divine drama of these holy days, well captured and expressed by St. Paul. It implies the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ give us an everlasting edge to shout and sing Alleluia because:-

Alleluia! Defeat has been turned into Victory. Alleluia!

Alleluia! The victim is now the Victor. Alleluia!

Alleluia! Good has overcome evil. Alleluia!

Alleluia! Life has been restored over death. Alleluia!

Alleluia! Love has conquered hatred. Alleluia!

Alleluia! Light has dispelled the darkness! Alleluia!

Alleluia. Virtuousness has replaced viciousness and sins. Alleluia!

Alleluia! Forgiveness has been written over condemnation. Alleluia!

OUR CHALLENGE TO ACTUALISE THE RESURRECTION IN OUR LIVES

1) For a change of heart and a new life.

2) For leading a new life with the Risen Lord by dying to a sinful life.

3) It is a new life that gives us the identity of noble Christians as children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus, and members of the mystical body of the Risen Christ.

4) For a personal and profound experience of the Risen Christ in our lives, especially in personal prayer and the Eucharist.

5) To meet with the Living and Resurrected Jesus in the fellowship of the Christian community.

6) To be authentic witnesses of the resurrection through our words, actions, and lifestyle.

THE CONCRETE AND INDISPUTABLE PROOF OF CHRIST´S RESURRECTION

1. Jesus himself testified to his Resurrection from the dead (Mark 8:31; Matthew 17:22; Luke 9:22).

2. The tomb was empty on Easter Sunday (Luke 24:3).

3. The initial disbelief of Jesus’ own disciples in His Resurrection, despite His repeated apparitions, serves as strong proof of His Resurrection.

4. The transformation of Jesus’ disciples: Jesus’s Resurrection and the anointing of the Holy Spirit transformed men who were hopeless and fearful after the crucifixion (Luke 24:21, John 20:19), into men who were now confident and bold witnesses to the Resurrection (Acts 2:24, 3:15, 4:2).

5. Neither the Jews nor the Romans could disprove Jesus’s resurrection by presenting the dead body of Jesus.

 6. The Apostles and early Christians would not have faced martyrdom if they had not been certain of Jesus’s resurrection.

Above all, the resurrection of Christ gives us absolute victory over Sin, Death, Evil, Demons, and evil spirits; the Devil or Satan! Alleluia!

 7. The Apostle Paul’s conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a zealous preacher of Jesus supports the truth of Jesus’s Resurrection (Galatians 1:11-17, Acts 9:1, Acts 9:24-25, Acts 26:15-18).

8. The sheer existence of a thriving, empire-conquering early Christian Church, bravely facing and surviving three centuries of persecution, supports the truth of the Resurrection claim.

9. The New Testament witnesses do not bear the stamp of dupes or deceivers. The Apostles and early Christians were certain about the Resurrection of Jesus.

Affirmatively, the resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith. Easter is the guarantee of our resurrection. In addition, Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement.

As St. Paul affirmed concretely that if Christ has not risen from the dead, it implies there is no resurrection from the dead, there is no preaching of the gospel nor witnessing that is authentic and above we are the most unfortunate people because Christianity and its spirituality anchor on Christ is vanity, 1 Corinthians 15:14-18.

Above all, the resurrection of Christ gives us absolute victory over Sin, Death, Evil, Demons, and evil spirits; the Devil or Satan! Alleluia!

OUR PRAYER

Alleluia! Lord Jesus Christ! You are the Risen Lord of Glory! The Conqueror of Death! Sin! Evil! Demons and the Devil! May the power of the risen Christ in all its glory, beauty and power dispel the darkness of sin, death and satanic domination over our families, societies, communities, churches, nations and us.  May the power of your Resurrection liberate us from these forces. Amen! To you be all praises, honour and adoration. Amen! Alleluia! Amen!