Gospel: Luke 24:1-12
On the Sabbath the women rested according to the commandment, but the first day of the week, at dawn, the women went to the tomb with the perfumes
and ointments they had prepared. Seeing the stone rolled away from the opening of the tomb, they entered, and were amazed to find that the body of the
Lord Jesus was not there. As they stood there wondering about this, two men in dazzling garments suddenly stood before them. In fright the women
bowed to the ground. But the men said, “Why look for the living among the dead? You won’t find him here. He is risen. Remember what he told you in Galilee, that the
Son of Man had to be given into the hands of sinners, to be crucified, and to rise on the third day.” And they remembered Jesus’ words. Returning from the tomb, they
told the Eleven and all the others about these things. Among the women, who brought the news, were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.
But however much they insisted, those who heard did not believe the seemingly nonsensical story. Then Peter got up and ran to the tomb. All he saw, when he bent down
and looked into the tomb, were the linen cloths, laid by themselves. He went home wondering.
Reflection:
Where did Jesus rise from? From the cross? From the tomb?
From the dead? Or from still somewhere unbelievably lower,
deeper, darker? Yes, indeed. He just didn't stop with dying. He
descended. Into Hell. So says the Creed. He descended to
the godless, to share in their godlessness as one among
them, as theologian Balthasar commented. The Resurrection
does not begin where Good Friday ended; It begins from
where Holy Saturday took him— the Hell. God’s kenosis (=selfemptying)
goes far deeper than the cross and the tomb, all
the way to the farthest depths. Easter begins from the darkest,
farthest, lowest point of human tragedies. This gives us hope!
For, as Easter icons of the East show, Christ is never risen alone:
He carries a bunch of souls—the entire humanity—with him. May
Christ help us easter from our hellish depths!
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022