RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
- Apr 7
- 9 min read
There are two traditions in the New Testament about the resurrection of Jesus.
There are the Gospel narrative scenes. There are the confessional passages in the letters of the New Testament.
The four gospels scenes affirm two things about the resurrection of Jesus.
First, that the sepulchre in which Jesus was entombed after his death was found empty.
Second, that Jesus was encountered by various witnesses in a new, resurrected existence, not known to human experience, and not easily recognisable, at least initially.
Empty Tomb
The Gospel of John highlights the significance of the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on Sunday morning, finding the stone rolled away. Peter and John run to the tomb, Peter being outpaced by the younger John, who waits:
Simon Peter went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead (John 20).
‘He saw and believed.’ Why?
It was the custom in the ancient world for thieves to break into tombs and steal, not the body, but the cloths. They were valuable and could be sold on the black market.
This is a tomb with a difference. The reverse is in play:
Body gone. Cloths still there.
Besides, if you wanted to steal the body you would not take the time to undress it. Just get in and get out, so that you don’t get caught. There would be no body, no cloths. All gone.
Are we to understand this scene in light of the raising of Lazarus? Most likely. Lazarus was raised from the dead but still wrapped in burial cloths:
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go’ (John 11).
John perceives, and is thoroughly convinced, that the tomb of Jesus indicates something radically different has taken place.
Jesus is resurrected, not resuscitated. The cloths of Jesus are unravelled, not by humans, but by the Father. Something entirely new has entered human history.
John ‘saw and believed.’
Resurrection Appearances
All four gospels confirm, with great honesty, that Jesus appears, but the disciples struggle to come to grips with the evidence; they struggle to accept and believe; and some even require crystal clarity, like Thomas.
Why do they have trouble recognising him? Is it their lack of faith?
A good point, for Jesus reprimands them at different times for what seems to be wilful ignorance.
Is it because of the effects of the passion and his brutal death? His body still carries the wounds of the passion after his resurrection, so blood trails would be manifest, and the deep groves in his body from the brutal, unrestrained scourging would be tangible.
It was a violent, shocking death, very confronting. Jesus suffered enormously, both physically and psychologically, as the Shroud of Turin testifies.
Mark, the most dramatic of the Gospels, says that Jesus felt ‘utterly dismayed and deeply distressed’ (Mark 14: 33). Luke, for his part, tells us that in his agony, the night before his death:
His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22).
Medical professionals confirm that this can happen in times of severe, unrestrained stress. We can speculate that he probably had a complete personal, nervous breakdown. All of this for you, for me.
Is their non-recognition of Jesus caused by grief?
St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) entered into profound grief one Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, Jesus appeared to her at Communion and asked why she was so depressed. He mentioned to Teresa that he had, in fact, appeared to his own mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the day of resurrection and it took him some time to arouse her from grief, so tangible and visceral was it.
What is clear from the accounts is that while Jesus appears in bodily form, his body is now different, belonging to another dimension, not previously open to human existence and experience.
It is his body, for he eats and talks and walks, but it’s a different body. He passes through doors and rooms effortlessly, appears where and when he wills. This new dimension of human existence, beyond time and space, would require adjustment by the disciples and would take time.
Of special importance is that many of the appearances occur at meals. On the road to Emmaus Jesus sidles up to them, walks with them, but they fail to recognise him. It is only when they sit down for a meal that they recognise Jesus:
When he was a table with them, he took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him (Luke 24).
From John we hear:
Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared ask Jesus, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord (John 21).
So, they know its him, but they know him in a different way.
Mention of Jesus being at table, taking bread, blessing, breaking and giving the bread surely alludes to the Eucharist.
It was St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) who famously declared:
That the entire spiritual tradition of the Church is contained in the Eucharist (CCC 1324).
This is so because in each of the seven sacraments Jesus acts, but in the Eucharist Jesus is not only acting but the sacrament is actually him. His body, blood, soul and divinity is the fruit of his passion, death and resurrection which is made present in the Eucharist. For this reason, St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. 108) referred to the Eucharist as the ‘medicine of immortality.’
Time is suspended when Mass is celebrated. We are present at his death and resurrection and the fruit of that sublime act of love is him.
We are not surprised, therefore, with Luke’s description of the resurrection in the Acts of the Apostles. It is a fascinating and intriguing use of language:
Jesus presented himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days being seen by them, and speaking of the kingdom of God, and eating salt together (synalizómenos) (Acts 1:3-4).
For Luke, three things characterise the resurrection appearances:
Jesus was seen by the disciples. He spoke with them. He ate salt with them.
Why would he describe the meal as eating salt?
Because it is covenantal language of the Old Testament, and the resurrection is just that – the ultimate covenant, made present in the Eucharist.
As soon as we are convinced of his resurrection, once we understand it, and its meaning for our poverty-stricken lives, there is no need for Jesus to hang around. As the scenes bear witness, once the disciples realise it is Jesus, he disappears.
He ascends to the Father, sends the Holy Spirit and he calls us to go forward as the community of believers, proclaiming his death and professing his resurrection.
Confessing the Resurrection
The earliest account of the resurrection of Jesus – pre-dating the Gospels – is given to us by St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. It is most important, because it is the earliest confession – like a mini-creed – of faith that we find in the New Testament:
For I delivered to you as of the first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he has been raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he let himself be seen by Cephas, then the twelve.
Then he let himself be seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he let himself be seen by James, then all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born (aborted or miscarried) he let himself be seen by me (1 Corinthians 15).
Unlike the Gospels scenes, what we have here is a confessional text that contains critical doctrine and teaching that must be received, treasured and proclaimed to the world.
We note the language. The death and burial is expressed in the past tense. But the resurrection event is different. The perfect tense is used. This is critical. The perfect tense is used for past events, which are present to us now.
The best way to describe this is by saying Jesus ‘has been raised,’ rather than ‘he was raised.’ This indicates Jesus’ permanent and ongoing presence in and with the Church. (Cf. Montague, First Corinthians, 264).
Note that the text says, ‘that Jesus has been raised on the third day.’ The ‘third day’ is code word for unique revelations from God. Think the revelation of God in glory on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:11,16; cf. Genesis 1:11-13; Genesis 42:18; Joshua 3:2; Jonah 2:1,11; Hosea 6:2).
So, Jesus was raised. By whom? By the eternal, merciful Father, thereby accepting his offering of love on the Cross.
Furthermore, when the resurrection scenes proclaim his appearances, they do so in the passive voice. That is, rather than using the active voice – Jesus appears to so and so – the texts use the passive voice, indicating that Jesus, ‘Let himself be seen.’
This is most important. Can we sense the meaning?
Jesus is invisible in his resurrected state, but if he so desires he can ‘let himself be seen’ visibly.
That is, he is always in his invisible, resurrected state, but can become visible when and where he likes.
The Meaning of the Resurrection
Forty days of resurrection appearances confirm the truth: Christ is truly risen. Jesus ascends to heaven and sends the apostles and disciples on mission. They go out two-by-two because most of life depends on the company we keep (Luke 10) – joys are multiplied, sorrows shared.
Like Jesus, the early Christians meet with opposition, finding themselves incarcerated for their trouble. We are told that an angel visited during the night, opened the prison doors and brought them out and said:
Go and stand in the temple and tell the people about this new life (Acts 5:20).
The great enemy of life – death – has been defeated. New life has entered the world. In the death of Jesus, we have the most spectacular reversal. Death suddenly becomes life-giving.
The early Fathers of the Church loved to say:
Death has been put to death by death.
We are going to die – sooner or later. But we no longer fear death. Death dies itself, and Jesus, raised from the dead, raises us with him. We are the inheritors of eternal, resurrected life.
Most importantly, all the other forms of death have been defeated:
Sin is forgiven. Little sins (venial) and bigger sins (mortal) are forgiven. Baptism wipes sin away, and sins can be confessed and forgiven in the sacrament of penance.
Suffering – spiritual, psychological, physical – now has immense meaning as a participation in the sufferings of Jesus. Suffering is a way and a gateway to eternal, resurrected life. Lest we waste it.
Sinful addictions are overcome. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, digital slavery, obsession with oneself – all of these destructive behaviours can be put to death by the grace of the resurrection.
Take note of St. Paul’s insight:
All I want is to know is Christ and the power of his resurrection, so as to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death (Philippians 3).
Christ’s death is a unique death because it is a death to sin.
Paul is saying that he and we can die to sin if we let the resurrection of Jesus penetrate our very being. Or to put it slightly differently:
Historically the death of Jesus comes before his resurrection, but spiritually and morally the resurrection comes first, giving us the grace we need to die to sin. We can only live like Jesus if we let the resurrection reign within us.
The advice St. John Bosco (1815-1888) is terrific:
Two things in life are essential. One, stay in the state of grace. Two, enjoy life as much as you can.
Avoid grave sin at all costs. Love the life God has given you. Do it all through the resurrection of Jesus.
The ‘new life’ we enjoy is one free from the fear of death; it is the experience of forgiveness of sins; it is the encounter with mercy.
St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) taught catechism to his peers. He loved the story of a grave sinner who knelt before St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) and wept over his sins, so much so, that he was unable to confess his sins. Anthony told him to write down his sins on a piece of paper, which he did. He gave the note to Anthony who read the sins. Anthony handed back the piece of paper to the man – and it was blank.
That is what we are dealing with in the forgiveness of sins. God takes them and wipes them out completely.
And this profound reality flows from the mercy of Christ. Mercy takes what is evil and harmful and transforms it into goodness. Recall the words of St. Augustine (354-430):
God is so good that in his hands, even evil brings about good.
So, we have won the spiritual jackpot. It is ‘new life’ – life to the full.
AMEN.
