ወበእሁድ ሰንበት

24 ሚያዝያ 2019 · 2027-05-02

Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, while it is still dark. The darkness reflects not only the time of day but also her sorrow and confusion. She believes that the body of Jesus has been taken away. Peter and the beloved disciple run to the tomb. They find the burial cloths but no body. The beloved disciple sees and believes, although the disciples have not yet fully understood the Scriptures concerning the Resurrection. Mary remains outside the tomb weeping. Her grief is so deep that she initially fails to recognise Jesus when He stands before her. She thinks He is the gardener. Everything changes when Jesus calls her by name: “Mary!” The risen Christ knows His disciples personally. He meets Mary in her grief and transforms her mourning into mission. She goes to the disciples with the Paschal proclamation: “I have seen the Lord.” Saint John teaches that the Christian message is based upon what the apostles heard, saw, and touched concerning the Word of Life. Their testimony invites others into communion with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. God is light, and no darkness exists in Him. Christians cannot claim communion with God while deliberately walking in darkness. Resurrection life requires honesty, confession of sin, reconciliation, and willingness to live openly before God. Saint Paul again teaches that the death and Resurrection of Christ form the foundation of the Gospel. Without the Resurrection, faith would be empty and humanity would remain imprisoned by sin. Because Christ has risen, Christian faith, forgiveness, hope, and eternal life have a firm foundation. In Acts, the apostles are ordered to stop preaching in the name of Jesus. Saint Peter answers: “We must obey God rather than men.” The Resurrection gives the apostles courage to place obedience to God above fear of punishment. They cannot remain silent because they have become witnesses of what God accomplished through Christ. The risen Lord still calls His people by name. He meets us in grief, brings us from darkness into light, forgives our sins, and sends us to proclaim what we have encountered. The proper response to the Resurrection is therefore not only saying that Christ has risen. It is walking in the light, obeying God, confessing our sins, living in communion, and telling others through our words and conduct: “I have seen the Lord.”