We have heard it many times in the accounts. It has happened: The Lord has risen from the dead! He is truly risen! Alleluia! This cry resounds throughout the Christian faith and gives it hope—hope even in dark times, when it seems to be fading—for the Resurrection of Christ is the visible sign of victory over hell and death!
“O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” (1 Cor 15:55)
May this cry never fall silent. May it lift up all despondent hearts and pierce through the darkness. The Lord is risen!
Today’s Gospel reading in the Old Rite (John 20:1–9) takes us back once more to the disciples on the early morning of Easter. They still have a journey to make to understand what happened on Easter morning. It is still unclear to them, and they are shaken and grieving over the death of their Lord. What will happen after His death? The Lord now lay in the tomb …
Through the testimony of Mary Magdalene, they already knew that the Lord’s tomb was empty. She had brought them this news. But they could not yet understand what it meant.
The two disciples hurried to the tomb. Scripture reports that John arrived first and saw the linen wrappings. Peter entered the tomb, and his gaze fell upon the face cloth, which lay in a separate place. Then John also went into the tomb. It says: “He saw and believed.” (v. 9)
John, with his loving heart, had begun to understand, even though the full reality of the Resurrection had not yet dawned on him through the testimony of Holy Scripture. But His heart sensed it and perhaps even knew it already. He saw with His heart. True love is often faster than the mind; it has direct access to reality, while the mind often needs a longer path.
What must have been going on in the minds of the two disciples? Was it already more than a still dim and anxious hope with which they returned home and which they shared with the others? Perhaps the light of understanding that began to dawn in John’s heart, as he saw and believed, also touched Peter.
Yet the two disciples had now come into contact with the events of the Resurrection. The tomb was empty; they saw the linen wrappings and the face cloth. But where, then, was their Lord? What did all this mean?
Soon Jesus will give them certainty, reveal Himself to them, and lead them into the bright light of understanding. Then they will be witnesses of His Resurrection and carry this message to others, so that they may believe and be saved. The Risen One will soon do this and will not fail to do so, for all must know: The Redeemer of humanity has conquered death and the devil and has taken up His reign of love and truth.
Meditation on today’s reading: https://en.elijamission.net/2024/04/06/
Meditation on today’s Gospel: https://en.elijamission.net/2022/04/23/
