What is more marvellous, Christ is now risen! In the gospel message of Easter, we see the Lord’s body still bearing the wounds made in His hands and side by the nails and the spear. But now, they are glorified as proof of God’s victory over death and sin.
Jesus goes forth to meet His disciples and every man, woman, and child throughout the ages, including our own. He comes and shares with us His joy, His peace, and the Holy Spirit. He shares His very self “in the breaking …show more content…
The ritual of mourning and acts of respect toward the body of Jesus by the faithful women turn to perplexity when they discover the empty tomb. Amazement follows at the angelic message. Finally, awesome joy erupts when at last Jesus comes to meet them.
The promise of God’s power has been realized. Still, the story appears unbelievable to the disciples who thought the resurrection would happen only at the end of time. Peter had learned that Jesus’ surprising sayings regularly came true. So on the first Easter, he marvelled at the linen grave cloths but did not at first come to faith. That had to await his personal encounter with the Risen One, as it must for each one of us.
John the Evangelist suggests what this encounter means for us as he tells of Mary Magdalene’s meeting with Jesus. The risen Lord appears both different from the one Mary knew (she thought He was the gardener), yet the same person who knows her by name (“Mary!”). Jesus told Mary that, henceforth, she and others share a new relationship with God, who has become “your Father and your God.” Jesus commissioned Mary to take the good news of the resurrection to the Apostles who would take it to the world. Jesus asks us to do the same