Easter Vigil presents one of the most dramatic situations in the gospels. The ladies who went to embalm the body suddenly find themselves in unbelievable situations. The heavy stone is rolled off, the body is not found, instead they find two angels telling them that he is alive now and is going to Galilee. From this empty tomb begins a saga of resurrection not only of Christ but also of those who followed him. The Church is built on the foundation of this evidence of resurrection, so much so, Saint Paul writes that if Christ is not risen, in vain is our faith.
With the resurrection, Christ overcomes the power of death. The greatest challenge of any living being is to overcome the fear of death. They have an instinct to preserve life. To overcome that natural tendency and walk into death need an even stronger instinct to preserve something more valuable than oneself. One of the most popular videos that the National Geographic Channel captured recently is of a baby deer and its mother. The mother looks painfully at the unruly baby jumping into the river. Then she sees a crocodile heading for the baby. She jumps into the river and throws herself to the jaws of the croc before it can reach her baby. There are some very natural instincts stronger than self-preservation and this mother deer exemplified it.
But Jesus was walking into death not by natural instinct but by choice. Debating death many times over in his mind, Jesus was fully convinced of the necessity of that redemptive act. The fiercest of the temptations came at the garden of Gethsemane where he was sweating blood to make a decision. He visualized his death many times over. Then he decides to die with an overwhelming love as he mentioned earlier; there is no greater love than to give one’s life for one’s friends. He had embraced the whole humanity as his friends including the ones that are crucifying him.
Death is the fiercest tool of coercion. An enemy uses our fear of death to manipulate our decisions. Many films use this technique to create a climax. If the victim chooses to die, suddenly the enemy becomes powerless. He has threatened the victims with the greatest possible pain, and when the victim chooses to embrace that pain, the enemy has no more tools to manipulate the victim’s values or decisions. Death lost its power since then. Oh! Death where is your sting! You have just become a stingless wasp! No one is afraid of you anymore! Jesus had taught that living the values of the Gospel, dying for LOVE is more worth than living. Martyrs walked that way happily, defeating the fear and power of death forever.
The resurrection also made the return of humans to paradise possible. The floodgates of love that were shut by greed and desire for power are now unleashed, and love has flooded every human heart that chooses to live by the gospel values. The one who dies believing in the Father’s plan will rise again. When Jesus rose again, not only his person but also the whole set of values that he had been teaching came back to life. All his teachings got validated by the fact of the resurrection.
The feast of the resurrection invites us to rejoice for Christ has triumphed over death. It also invites us to reflect on the need to conquer my worst fears and temptations. It is important now not to go back to the tomb where lies our dead sinful self, not to throw our risen selves with what is dead.
Happy Easter. Christ has risen. We have been raised too… Alleluia!