Understanding Resurrection: Meaning of our Faith.

I was just listening to the sermon of Fr. Robert Barron (The impossibly goodnews of Easter). He said the following (not in exact words):

Easter proclamation is the strangest message ever delivered. He says of the need to defamiliarize with the fact of the Easter proclamation. The ancient Israelites wondered what happened after their death. Some Jews of the time were of the opinion that nothing happens after death – a human being just go back to the earth and fades away. This is very much expressed in the psalms of the Old Testament, for e.g., “Dust cannot praise you.” This meant that only when you are alive, you can praise God. So death is just the end according to the ancient belief. Some Biblical Jews had the opinion that after death one goes down to the shadowy underworld, “Sheol”. This shadowy underworld is characterized by darkness, sadness and gloominess. This underworld can be compared to the underworld spoken of in the Greek and Roman Mythology. No one longs for the underworld because there is no fulfillment out there. Again in the psalms we find – ‘neither of those who go down to the pit await your kindness’ (Is: 38). One can easily see the mentality of the ancient people (especially the Jews) reflected in the psalms.

The Jews also believed that a Spirit might return to the earth. This we find reflected in the first book of Samuel when Saul consults the witch of En-Dor to bring back the unhappy ghost of prophet Samuel (1Sam 28).

In Jesus’ time, the Jews began to speculate that there is a resurrection of the Just at the end of time in their restored bodies. They enjoy communion with God. This belief is also reflected in the words of Martha to Jesus, 'I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.' (Jn 11:24). We also know that in the New Testament we have Sadducees who do not believe in the resurrection, but the Pharisees believe.

We also see in the New Testament another kind of belief among the Jews – belief in reincarnation (an eastern view). We see it in the gospel of Mark 6: 14-16:

¹⁴ King Herod had heard about him, since by now his name was well known. Some were saying, 'John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’¹⁵ Others said, 'He is Elijah,' others again, 'He is a prophet, like the prophets we used to have.'¹⁶ But when Herod heard this he said, 'It is John whose head I cut off; he has risen from the dead.' (Taken from http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=9) 

Now what was the intellectual milieu of Jesus? The speculation of the Jews was also mixed with Greek culture. Plato advocated that when we die, the soul escapes the body. The soul always longs for the spiritual world and pines to move into the realm of pure forms. Our body is only an instrument to house the soul. Hence body is a prison and soul is captured.

Now when Jesus died on the cross, those who were spiritually optimistic might have thought He would also rise at the end of time along with the righteous. No one thought that He would rise on the third day. Now the gospel of John 20: 1-9 vividly narrates the true faith in the fact of resurrection as held by the early Christian community.

¹ It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb ² and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,' she said, 'and we don't know where they have put him.' ³ So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. ⁴ They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; ⁵ he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. ⁶ Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground ⁷ and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed. ⁹ Till this moment they had still not understood the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

(taken from http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=9)

When Mary Magdala saw that the tomb was empty, it was commonsense to assume that his body was stolen. But observe the minute details given by the evangelist (this we would not find in a mere mythical narrative). If at all the robbers robbed the body of our Lord, why did not they carry the fine linen clothes with them?  The burial cloths were in just order. John and Peter also saw the ‘empty tomb,’ they came running to find out what has happened (perhaps also to find out the grave robbers). But finding the cloths in order, gave rise to imagine something new – He is Risen!! It is foolish to assume that Jesus was not dead, because Roman Soldiers executed him, they would make sure that He was dead.

In Jesus’ subsequent appearances, He was thought to be a ghost by the disciples. He assured them that ‘He is He.’ He greeted them ‘peace be with you.’ When our blessed Lord appeared to our doubting Thomas, he asked him to ‘touch and see.’ Thomas’s doubt was so much existential. He was shattered by the crucifixion; it was too much for him to grasp the story of the resurrection – the story of the empty tomb. This was the first Easter. (Watch this in youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5kvMyCIr8M)  He was not a ghost. He ate with them in the coast of Tiberias. This was the experience of the Risen Lord for the First Christian community. The Risen Lord commanded them, to go forth all corners of the world to evangelize, to make him known. We see the apostles doing their continued mission of our Lord with vigor and enthusiasm and all the more with the attitude of ‘life and death.’

I would also love to add an excerpt from an Easter greeting that I got from my professor  Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Sydney Mascarenhas, O.F.M (28 March 2012, Rome):

Often, we remain Tombs of God’s love for us and His World!!!!

It is up to us to unravel His Love buried in us.

We are all made in the Triune God’s Image and Likeness.

Interestingly, His Tomb is sealed and guarded by us humans.

It disturbs and upsets our systems.

It sets in question our will to power.

But the seal was unsealed and the stone was rolled away by God’s Love.

Finally, His tomb was empty, except for the clothes he wore, which were neatly wrapped.

May our faith in the resurrection strengthen us and give meaning to our existence. So we can now say together with St. Paul – “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is pointless” (1Cor 15:17)