Christ is Alive! Alleluia

Easter Sunday 2019:

Alleluia.  Christ is alive.  Alleluia is a Hebrew word that means “praise God.”  Praise God indeed.  Jesus Christ died on the Cross.  He was buried.  Yet, that tomb is empty.  We proclaim: he is alive.  Today we celebrate that day where Christ completed his mission here on earth.  He came as our savior.  We needed rescuing.  We were slaves to sin and death.  But, Jesus set us free.  Like Moses, he led us across the waters of baptism.  Moses led the people out of slavery in Egypt.  Christ leads us out of the slavery of death.  He is our Savior.  Today we proclaim his victory.

But, I found this gospel passage really interesting.  I find it interesting because of what it doesn’t say.  It doesn’t say that Mary met Jesus.  It doesn’t say that the apostles met Jesus.  In fact, we don’t see Jesus anywhere in this gospel passage.  Now, if you have your bible and you keep reading, you will find that Jesus appears to both Mary Magdalene and the rest of the Apostles.  But, not in this passage.  In this passage, the only proof of the resurrection is the empty tomb.  

It got me thinking about how we can prove the resurrection of Christ.  It seems to me that the most powerful proofs of the resurrection of Christ are all the various appearances of Jesus.  I’m sure all of us have our favorite ones.  There is the road to Emmaus where Jesus speaks with the disciples and they recognize him in the breaking of the bread.  There is the time where Jesus was on the shore and asked Peter 3 times: do you love me?  There was the time when the doors were locked and Jesus appeared saying: peace be with you. These appearances were amazing and miraculous and certainly helped the disciples believe in Jesus.  But, how many of us can say what we have had the same experiences?  Of course, nothing rules it out.  So, if Jesus comes to your family Easter party today, let me know all about it.  We certainly do believe that Jesus is alive. But, for most of us, face-to-face appearances will not be the evidence we use to believe in the resurrection. So, what else?

First, we have the same evidence as listed in the gospel for today’s reading.  The empty tomb.  You know what?  That tomb is still empty.  There is a huge church built over top of the tomb.  But, the tomb is still empty.  There has never been any evidence that they found the body of Jesus.  There has never been any kind of concrete proof of there being a great hoax or whatever.  No, the tomb is empty.  Think about that.  If you visited the tomb of a deceased loved-one and found the tomb empty, you’d be pretty shocked right.  Mary was shocked too.  That tomb is empty.  What could be going on?  So, we have that evidence.

What else do we have?  I think the best evidence for the miracle of the resurrection is the lives of the apostles.  These were lowly and simple guys.  During the passion narratives they don’t seem to great right?  One betrays Jesus, Peter denies him 3 times, many of them flee when Jesus needed them the most.  Yet, after the resurrection, what do we find?  They boldly proclaim the truth of the resurrection.  Today in the first reading Peter stands before everyone who would listen and proclaims his faith in the risen Christ.  Peter denied Jesus three times before maids and servants, and now he willing to tell anyone who would listen that Christ is alive.  What explains this radical transformation? The resurrection.  Peter experienced Christ face-to-face.  He knows he’s alive.  That changes everything.  

So, that gives us two powerful pieces of evidence for the resurrection of Christ.  We have the empty tomb and we have the witness of everyone who believes in Christ. Sure, we start with St. Peter, but really all the saints down through the ages are great witnesses to the power of Christ, who is alive.  

Is that enough evidence for you?  Maybe not.  You might say, it’s not fair.  I need to see him face-to-face.  Well, we are fortunate.  We have the sacraments.  All seven sacraments are encounters with Christ.  These encounters are more veiled than the encounters of Christ in the gospels. But, they are still encounters with the Risen Christ.  Let me just highlight 2 sacraments. 

First, confession.  When we go to confession we humbly acknowledge our sins and Jesus says: peace be with you.  Remember when Jesus first appears to the Apostles in John’s gospel.  The same thing happens.  In fact, he says: peace be with you.  Then he says: who’s sins you forgive are forgiven.  During these last few weeks, we have been having lots of confessions here at the cathedral.  Each and every time a person goes to confession, this is an appearance of the risen Christ that strengthens our faith.

Second, the mass.  One of my favorite appearances of Jesus is the Road to Emmaus.  But, what happens in that story.  Jesus explains the scriptures.  Then he breaks the bread.  The recognized him in the breaking of the bread.  They were face to face with Jesus the whole time, but they only recognized him at mass.  This is why the Mass is the very foundation of our life of faith.  This is the bedrock of Christianity because it is the lasting appearance of Christ which he gave to us as a way to strengthen our faith for the rest of time.  The Mass is the risen Christ appearing to us his disciples.  

So, today we proclaim the resurrection.  The evidence is compelling: the tomb is empty, the disciples changed their lives, Christ continues to appear to us in the Sacraments.  My friends, Christ is truly alive.  Let this foundational truth of our lives fill us with Joy as we celebrate the feast of our redemption.