Chapter 22 - Risen

Good Friday – the Crucifixion – Jesus is dead – He is placed in a tomb – fact. Three days later, the tomb is empty – fact.  Jesus is alive! How can a finite mind comprehend such a supernatural, not of this world, event. How can human witnesses to this event describe it to others, along with descriptions of a “glorified body?” No one can do it adequately – not even the gospel writers or Jesus’ closest friends who spent 40 days with Him after his resurrection.

Yet, in their own limited way, they all attempted to give witness to this event.  We have Mary, who mistook Jesus for a gardener, but when He said her name, she knew deep in her heart that this was Jesus because she knew His voice so well. Thomas asked for more proof than just the words of his friends about Jesus being alive – and for Thomas, a physical touch would be proof enough.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus were “dazed and confused” and actually had a stranger (they, too, did not initially recognize Jesus) guide them through all the events leading to His resurrection, and then they recognized Him when He broke bread and ate with them, something they had done together many times before.   

Research indicates that newborn infants can recognize the voice of their mother from other voices.  That bond already is so strong (from the time spent in utero) that the awareness of the relationship exists.  Is my relationship with Jesus that strong that I would recognize His voice or mannerisms, despite not recognizing Him in a “glorified” body. So, in some way, Jesus reached out to each of these people in the way that each would understand that He was the Jesus they knew, and that He was alive. He still does that with each of us, and He will meet us right where we are, when we are ready, and He will make sure that we recognize who He is.

Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus once a year by going to Church on Easter Sunday.  Jesus wants me to celebrate the fact that He is alive in my life every day. I am to look for Him in the faces of the sick and suffering, in children, in the elderly, the hungry, the homeless, the oppressed and the imprisoned.   Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed is he who has not seen (that is, seen Him personally), yet has believed (that He is alive, because I see Him in others).” (John 20:29).

He Is Risen! Alleluia!



To Ponder and Discuss:

1.  Why do  you think Mary was at first unable to recognize the Risen Christ?

2.  In your own words, what does it mean to "accept our crosses?"  Have you experienced the "paschal mystery" of death and rebirth in your own life?

Connie Cannella