Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection
John 20:1-9

      ON THE FIRST DAY of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial clothes there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

The “first day of the week” mentioned at the beginning of the Gospel Reading today refers to Sunday. The Sabbath, of course, falls on Saturday, the last day of the week, the day of rest as prescribed by the Law of Moses. Sunday, the first day of the week, is really for the Jews the first day of work. It corresponds to the first day of Creation when God created “the light”. Thereafter comes a series of God’s creative actions, bringing forth the whole world with man and woman at the pinnacle. That the Resurrection of the Lord happened on a Sunday, the first day of the week, says a lot therefore about God’s action in Christ. God raising Jesus from the dead on Sunday, the first day of Creation, means that God is renewing this Creation. God is making a new beginning; He is “making all things new.” This act begins with Christ and continues until it touches each and everyone one of us, each and everything in the world. We are re-created, made new again.

Easter Sunday is truly the “day of the Lord.” In Spanish we call Sunday “Domingo” from the Latin “Domini” meaning “of the Lord.” It hearkens back to the day when Jesus was raised from the dead and made Lord of all. Every Sunday, that is, every first day of the week is therefore reserved for the Lord. We, Christians, commemorate the Lord’s victory over sin and death, his Resurrection from the dead on this day and every Sunday thence.

The events that unfolded on that first Easter Sunday as recounted for us by the Evangelist begins with Mary of Magdala. She “came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark”. “Dark” here does not only mean the physical condition of the surroundings that early part of the morning. For all we know at that period of the morning it could be “still dark.” Yet, John also refers to the disciples’, including Mary of Magdala’s spiritual condition. The last line of this particular Gospel episode indicates the reason why: “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” The disciples were clueless, still bewildered, shocked, and confused with all that happened with their Master. The meaning of the Scriptures were still beyond them at that point; their experience of Jesus’ Passion and Death  has yet to be illuminated by the Scriptures.

What happened that moment when the disciples were still in the dark was their discovery of the empty tomb. Again, it was Mary of Magdala who, having come early in the morning, “saw the stone removed from the tomb.” Reporting the whole strange happening to “Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved,” Mary of Magdala brought the initial Easter news, still vague, still dark, still confused. The first two recipients of the strange news ran to the tomb as if in a race, with Simon Peter being outpaced and outrun by “the beloved disciple.” Both Peter and that other disciple discovered the burial cloths but without the body which had been wrapped by these very pieces. Moreover, the head cover was rolled away separately from the rest of the cloths. What would anyone make of this sight? An empty tomb and a rolled away burial cloth? Mary of Magdala and Simon Peter did not know what to make of it. It took “the other disciple whom Jesus loved” to break the seeming confusion with his own personal insight: “he saw and believed”.

            Easter Sunday and every Sunday hence for that matter is a continuing invitation for us to “see and believe.” We are asked to see the presence of the Lord in his seeming absence, to see the Lord in the signs and symbols left to us... and still believe.

            While we no longer have access to the empty tomb and abandoned burial cloths that indicate the Lord’s resurrection, we still have access to the symbols and signs that point to the same. We can see the burning candle, the pure white corporal that bears the host, the Tabernacle, the Bread and Wine, the fresh flowers, the priest and the congregation gathered together, the overflowing church—all these and more bear traces of the Lord’s presence. It tells of a victorious presence that can be contained neither by the tomb or any other locality or thing. Still, the Risen Christ stands in our midst.
 
            Happy Easter to one and all! A happy renewal of our Baptismal faith!