The readings for Easter express extraordinary joy over Jesus’ triumphant resurrection from the dead and confidently exhort us to a new life based on faith in God’s victory over sin and death.
We may all rejoice in singing the refrain of the Easter Psalm: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Ps 118).
Peter’s sermon in the Acts reading proclaims the universal significance of Jesus’ resurrection which brings the good news of God’s forgiving love into the whole world. Peter begins the mission to the Gentiles by announcing the salvation God has wrought in Jesus to the household of Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman centurion. Beginning with the baptism of John, God anointed Jesus with his Spirit to do good and heal those who were in the grip of the devil. Although Jesus was put to death in Jerusalem by “being hanged on a tree,” God raised him on the third day and made him manifest to the chosen witnesses who ate and drank with him (see Luke 24). Now Peter fulfills Jesus’ command to witness to what he has seen (Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8,22) by testifying that Jesus is the one ordained by God to judge the living and the dead, and that in his name forgiveness of sins is available to all.
In the reading from the letter to the Colossians, Paul exhorts them to live out the consequences of the Resurrection. They have been raised up in company with Christ and are now to set their hearts on “the higher realms,” rather than “on things of earth.” In Colossians 3:5-17, Paul contrasts these two ways of living. “The things of the earth” to which the Christian has died are fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness (3:5-9). “The things above” are compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiveness (3:10-17) which are to mark the Christian community’s renewed Easter life.
In the Easter Gospel, John emphasizes the initial “darkness” and consternation over the discovery of the empty tomb and contrasts it with the faith of the beloved disciple who believes in Jesus’ resurrection and return to the Father simply on the basis of the sign of the empty tomb. When Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb “while it was still dark,” she discovers the stone has been rolled away, but she meets no angels to interpret its significance as mentioned in the other Gospels. Instead, she thinks that the body has been stolen and runs to tell Simon Peter and the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” When they race to the tomb, the beloved disciple arrives first, but he defers to Simon Peter, who enters the tomb and observes the wrappings on the ground and the piece of cloth which had covered Jesus’ head. We are not told Peter’s reaction, although 20:9 reminds us: “Remember, as yet they did not understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” In contrast to Peter, when the beloved disciple enters the tomb, we are told very simply, “He saw and believed.” This belief is based on Jesus’ words to the disciples in the farewell discourse at the Last Supper where he announced:
“You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now, I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.”
For the beloved disciple, the empty tomb is enough of a sign to believe that Jesus has fulfilled his promise. On this Easter feast, we are called to rejoice in faith with the beloved disciple that Jesus has indeed both returned to the Father and come back to dwell with us believers.
