Homily offered by Dcn. Michael Schlaack on the Feast of the Myrrhbearing Women
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
One thing that is apparent when studying the Gospel records of the risen Christ is the disciples’ reaction: They don’t believe it. The men and women who lived with Jesus during His 3-year ministry on earth, who certainly could have recognized Him in a crowd anywhere, could not recognize Him when He appeared after His Passion. Even when Jesus foretold His Passion, His followers refused to accept it. St. Matthew records Peter’s refusal to believe that the Christ would suffer under the hands of the religious leaders and be killed, only to raise again on the third day. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you’” (Matt. 16:21, 22). And while it is generally assumed that St. Peter was referring only to Jesus’ death, it can also be understood that he was denying the Resurrection as well. This would explain Jesus particularly direct response: “’Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men’” (v. 23). The Resurrection cannot occur without the suffering and death of the Passion, so by denying the Passion, St. Peter was also denying the Resurrection.
It was “man’s” understanding that the Christ would not suffer death and that this point in Jesus’ ministry it would seem hard to accept that He would not deliver Israel from under the yoke of Roman rule and oppression. The “kingdom” that Jesus taught was understood by most to be an earthly dynasty, a restoration of the throne of King David. It would be a hard lesson for the disciples to learn that the kingdom Jesus proclaimed was of heaven, not of earth. And as we see in the Gospel accounts, it took the Resurrection and the subsequent physical encounters with Christ to finally drive home the message that Jesus preached all along. It was truly a case of “seeing is believing.”
But before we start criticizing the disciples for their lack of faith, we should spend a few minutes reflecting on our own understanding of the Resurrection and the impact it has, or should have, on our lives as Christians. It is easy to recite the historical background but what is the significance for us today? How has Christ’s Resurrection changed us personally? Before becoming faithful Christians, what was our reaction when we first heard about Christ’s Resurrection? It could have been similar to the reaction of our first century counterparts: We needed proof before we would commit to believing.
The Gospel accounts help us to understand the initial impact the Resurrection had on the early Church. The brief period after His Passion was one of confusion and fear. For the entire prophesies to be fully understood, the disciples needed tangible proof. The Gospel accounts of the empty tomb occurred at a particularly low point in the life of the Church and the Apostles. The tomb was empty, the Lord had risen, but now what? Where was He? How will He lead His people and continue the work He started? It was into this doubt that Jesus made His miraculous appearance. The door of the upper room was locked to keep out the enemies who were determined to put an end to this little band of believers. But Jesus was able to overcome the locked doors of fear and doubt, appearing to the disciplines gathered in the upper room to prove the faithfulness of His promise and the power of the Resurrection.
The disciples’ path to belief provides us with a great example for how we can embrace the power of the Resurrection and make it part of our own faith. The forty days immediately following Christ’s Resurrection were instructional for the disciples just as it is able to teach us today, for we see that it was not until after Jesus rose from the dead that His followers were able to fully understand everything that had taken place during the previous three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The Gospels give us several accounts of the disciples’ lack of understanding which Jesus credited to their lack of faith. This should tell us that our inability to fully comprehend many of the details of Christianity may have less to do with our lack of scholastic accomplishments and more with a failure of faith. The Gospels describe how important the post-Resurrection forty days were to help wrap-up everything that Jesus demonstrated and taught about the Kingdom of God, and this same 40-day period should be used by us as well to continue to strengthen our faith as well.
We should take a few minutes to consider three significant events that occurred during the post-Resurrection period that may help us better understand how we, too, can learn from embracing the meaning of Pascha. First, consider the account of St. Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the risen Christ as recorded in St. John’s Gospel (John 20:14-18). St. Mary comes to the tomb to begin the traditional Jewish burial ritual. The fact that she is there indicates that she did not fully understand the concept of the Resurrection, for if she did, she would have no need to anoint Jesus’ dead body. St. Mary was there at Christ’s Crucifixion; she witnessed His death and burial three days earlier. Now she was there to complete the work for the final preparation of dead human body.
Like the rest of the disciples, St. Mary did not initially recognize the risen Jesus even as He stood before her. She initially thought the risen Jesus was the gardener. “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away’” (John 20:15). It was not until Jesus called her name that she finally recognized Him (v. 16). We, too, as Christians are called out by Christ. But before we are called, we must seek Him first. Whether out of ignorance or true love, we must be willing to go the tomb in our great sorrow and loss to see for ourselves His risen body. When we truly seek God, we will be shown the Father through His Son (John 14:7-9). By seeking the body of Christ, St. Mary was able to understand the meaning of Christ’s teaching.
The second event I would like us to consider is recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Here we read the account of two disciples walking together along the road from Jerusalem to the town of Emmaus. The two men encounter a stranger who joins them on their journey. The stranger is Jesus, but for some reason the Gospel tells us that the disciples’ eyes were “restrained” and did not recognize Him (Luke 24:16). The stranger asks the two men why they were sad, and they begin to describe the events of the previous days of Jesus’ death and the claim by the women disciples that the Christ had risen from the dead. Jesus then begin to teach them the prophesies concerning the Christ: “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (v. 27). Even though the two disciples had the prophecies explained to them, they still did not recognize Jesus as He stood in front of the them. All the clues were laid out for them, but still they were unable to “connect the dots.” They were told about the Resurrection of Jesus but at that point the event was not a personal experience. It was not until evening, when they sat down and ate with Jesus that they were able to fully understand. The Gospel tells us that “…as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:30, 31). It took an intimate encounter over a meal, where Jesus was finally known to them through the breaking of bread (v. 35). We can take part in that same personal meal today through the Holy Eucharist. Jesus told His disciples that unless they eat His flesh and drink His blood, they will have no life (John 6:53). It is by taking in Christ completely that we can receive the ultimate promise of the Resurrection: That we, too, will be raised to eternal life (v. 54). But it is only through our participation in Christ that we are able to realize this promise.
The third event for our consideration is the Gospel lesson we heard last week. St. Thomas missed the Lord’s initial visit to the upper room and made the pronouncement: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). This is certainly an honest assessment that sums up the attitude of ALL the disciples. Each of them needed some form of tangible proof before they were ready to proclaim the risen Christ. Just like the rest, St. Thomas needed a personal experience with Jesus make it all seem real. But really all he was asking for was the same thing that the other disciples were privileged to have already had: A personal encounter with the risen Lord. This should be no different for us as well; we too should demand our personal encounter with Christ. We should not settle for just hearing about the Resurrection. We need to make it a real encounter.
So, as we continue to journey with the young Church as it approaches the Decent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, let us not slip into a spiritual slumber. The preparation of Great Lent was meant to wake us up, to re-energize our bodies and souls. And like the Church after Christ’s Resurrection we need to take this time to reflect on all we did and all we learned during the time leading up to Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. We need to seek Him like Mary Magdalene and the other Myrrhbearing Women, participate with Him by breaking the Eucharistic bread like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and we need have an encounter with Christ like Thomas. The hymn we sing during the first week of Great Lent continues to be an important reminder for us even now:
“My soul, my soul, arise! Why are you sleeping? The end is drawing near, and you will be confounded. Awake, then, and be watchful, that Christ our God may spare you, Who is everywhere present and fills all things.”
Let us not stop now! As Christ showed us, the Passion was not the end, but the beginning of a new life for all the world, open to those who have the love and faith to seek, participate and have a personal encounter with the risen Lord.
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!