April 9, 2023 - Easter Sunday

Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.
Jesus blesses those who believe even when they can’t see what lies hidden beyond the veil of mystery. The Easter story is about people daring to believe in Jesus’ resurrection precisely because of what they could not see or find – his body in the tomb.

Mary Magdalene was making her way to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea in the pre-dawn darkness. She wasn’t going there expecting to find an empty tomb. She was going to wash and anoint Jesus’ body for burial, according to Jewish custom. Mary found nothing but the stone rolled away and the grave emptied of its precious contents. When she ran to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple, she was thinking his body had been stolen as one final, cruel act of mockery.

The disciple whom Jesus loved saw and believed. Who did he see? No one. What did he see? Nothing, just the shroud. He believed even if he did not yet understand.

No one saw the moment when the Lord God raised Jesus from the dead, but the Apostles would soon see Jesus, touch him, and eat with him by the shores of Galilee. They would be strengthened by him and given the Holy Spirit to guide them in the important work that lay ahead of them – that of building the Church. There would be no looking back from that day forward.

The same can happen for us. If we let him, the risen Christ can change our hearts so that we, too, will never be the same again. The risen Lord wishes to draw our eyes and our attention to heaven, that we might seek and think of what is above. Just as God rolled the stone away from the tomb and called his Son to new life, the risen Lord Jesus is seeking to roll the stone away from our tombs as well, calling us forth to live our faith more deeply.

Some people look at a cross and see an interesting geometric shape, a piece of art, or a Roman symbol of torture. For the believer, when we look upon a cross we see love and victory. Worldly people look at an empty tomb and they feel just like it – empty. Witnesses to the Resurrection look at the empty tomb with hearts full of faith, and we believe precisely because of what we can’t see inside of it – the body of Jesus.

As we begin our 50-day celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, may we be blessed for all that we do not see and still believe.