Today is the day of Resurrection! Alleluia! Jesus has risen from the dead. He is no longer in the tomb. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the climax of our Christian belief. That which was unheard of is now a reality. The resurrection story is the greatest miracle in world history, a gift of God to us so that we have hope and renewed faith in Him.
At first, the resurrection story was complex for the apostle to believe. In Luke’s account, when the women reported that Jesus had risen, the apostles thought it nonsense but needed to understand what happened to Christ’s body. In John’s gospel, he narrated what he and Peter saw and believed. It was not the resurrected Lord but the evidence of the empty tomb. Later they would see him and believe more, and then understand the scriptures and words of Jesus about His Resurrection. Therefore, the first evidence of the Resurrection is the empty tomb. The tomb is the final resting place for the body, but Jesus’ body is no longer there. He is alive. He rose body and soul from the grave.
In the first reading, St Peter was preaching this Resurrection of Jesus to the house of Cornelius, that Jesus indeed rose from the dead. They, who doubted in the first instance, were later convinced by the presence of the Lord. He emphasized that it was not to everybody that Jesus showed himself but to them, the few witnesses. If it was difficult for the few to believe, how much more for those who did not see Jesus? But it is God’s design so that those who will believe without seeing can be justified by their faith in his Resurrection and be given a new life of grace.
The resurrection experience makes our lives to be different. In the second reading, St Paul reminds us that, having been raised with Jesus Christ, our thoughts should be now on heavenly things. May your thoughts and prayers today be on your Resurrection through faith in Jesus the resurrected one.