THE WITNESS OF THE EMPTY TOMB

(EASTER MEDITATION)

 “It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdalene 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 whom Jesus loved” (Jn 20:1-2).

We begin our Easter meditation series by looking at the empty tomb. The Easter event is surrounded with awe—love and wonder! It is quite obvious that the immediate followers of Jesus were not convincingly expecting the resurrection. It took them by surprise. Mary Magdalene thought the body was taken away; Peter and the other disciple did not believe until the entered the empty tomb and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground. The rest had to wait for His appearing before they could believe! And Jesus' appearances to the disciples gave them the assurance of faith with which they stood firm in their proclamation. Nevertheless, the Chief priests and Pharisees were expectant; they kept in mind the words of Jesus that He would rise from the dead. “So they went and made the sepulchre secure, putting seal on the stone and mounting a guard” (Mt 27:66). However, for those who believed in Jesus, the empty tomb rolled away their doubts, but for those who would not accept Him, it opened up their evil thoughts and emptiness.

But was it necessary for the stone to be rolled away for Jesus to come out? Definitely no! He could pass through the stone just as he appeared to the apostles in the room though the doors were locked (Jn 20:19). What if he came out without rolling away the stone? It was not the open grave that effected the resurrection. He opened the grave as evidence—a landmark and concrete witness to His resurrection, which could be accessed by both believers and unbelievers. Without the open grave, the disciples could have believed through His appearances, but the universality of the resurrection would be difficult to comprehend. The empty sepulchre was a witness to the resurrection, which Jesus Himself left for all to see and come to believe in Him.

Earlier, Jesus accused the Pharisees of being a white-washed sepulchre—cleaning the outside of the tomb while inside is dead bones, dirt and bad odour (Mt 23:27-28). But at this Easter, He goes into the tomb to clean it up! The darkness of the tomb is dispelled by His light; the scary, dirt and death in the grave is no more. The grave has become a cave; the tomb is now like a tub. The tomb was the journey-end where sin lures us to. The open grave has exposed the nothingness at the end of the journey of sin. Thus from this Easter mystery, we can begin to feel the vanity within every lure of sin. The witness of the empty tomb becomes our attraction to the new life of the resurrection in Christ Jesus.

Our participation in the new life in Christ Jesus, our overcoming of dead actions of sin, is the witness we bear to the resurrection. This ‘witness’, expressed in our Easter liturgy, is equally our celebration of the witness to Himself, which Jesus left behind. Therefore, our participation in His new life becomes our sharing in bearing witness; He Himself has given the first and ultimate witness to Himself. In other words, the witness to the resurrection is not left at the mercy of human agency. That is why, as we are going to see in readings of this Easter tide, that all efforts to silence the proclamation by the Sanhedrin and Saul proved abortive. And that is why we must remain steadfast in bearing witness to the new life we have received. No matter the situation we find ourselves, the changing times and present difficulties, cannot lure us away from witnessing to the resurrected Jesus by the life of holiness we bear.

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday April 19^th, 2020.

Feast of Divine Mercy.