THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST IS A MIRACLE THAT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD ONLY BY A FAITH -FILLED LIFE.
The greatest event of history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus who said, I am the resurrection and the life, proved his claim by rising from the dead. No tomb could contain his body as no house was ready to accept him when he was to be born. Jesus resurrection is the foundation of our faith. St. Paul tells us, If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died (1.Cor.15:14-20). These are the words of an apostle who was taught directly by Jesus, the mysteries of our faith.
Today this foundation is being attacked by the powers of darkness through many means. They are adding to the lie that is believed on in the past about the resurrection as we read in Mt 28: 11-14, His disciples came by night and took his body away while we were asleep. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.
We see the risen Jesus in different places after the resurrection. There are eleven post-resurrection appearances of Jesus mentioned in the New Testament. The final appearance is before the Ascension. But I always wondered why Jesus did not collect a considerable crowd with him after the resurrection and come to the house of Pontius Pilate the Governor. Three days earlier he was insulted, jeered at and had lost to Barrabas in the opinion poll. Today after the resurrection that should have been the first place where he should have gone to prove them wrong. He could have called out to Pilate and convinced him that he had indeed risen from the dead. It would then have been written in the official records of the Roman Empire. No historian then would go against this proof. Why did Jesus not think of leaving behind some proof of his resurrection for the historical records and DNA tests? Why does he not enter once more into Jerusalem as he did on Palm Sunday? Why does he not revise again with the disciples and the crowd the Sermon on the Mount that he had given earlier? Why does he not feed again a multitude more convincingly with the bread from heaven? We do not know if he is avoiding publicity or is afraid of the people that crucified him? One point is clear that he is seen only among his apostles and closely loved ones. But then the apostles mistook him for a ghost and a stranger. Mary Magdalene mistook him for a gardener. And yet it was only after a short gap of three days. It is understandable that if we meet a person after a long time we may not recognize them at the first glance. But here no such gap occurred. What then has happened? Why is our risen saviour so different from what we want him to be?
We find our Risen Saviour going to the forsaken village of Emmaus in the middle of the night with two disciples. There was no one else to see him or hear him. Jesus had told his disciples to preach repentance to all nations and now he is spending his time walking seven miles for the sake of two disciples. How amazing to see that the risen saviour is willing to walk seven miles in the dead of the night to bring faith into the hearts of two discouraged disciples! He does not think only of crowds but he cares for every individual in need. The spontaneous outburst of the disciples, did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us would have been lost to us if Jesus had not walked with them (Lk.24: 32). We know what effect his interaction had on the frightened, disheartened disciples. The same night they walked back to Jerusalem full of joy and courage to speak of the risen Lord. This is what he expects from any believer who hears of the fact of his resurrection today. This is the sign of our faith in the risen Lord, that we proclaim him to others.
Another occasion where we see the risen Saviour is by the shore of the lake early in the morning, cooking breakfast for his disciples (Jn 21: 4-20). Under the leadership of Peter some of the disciples had gone back to their old job of fishing. Strange though they caught nothing and early in the morning there is a person directing them to cast their nets to the right side of the boat. Obeying his word they cast their nets and it was the greatest catch of all their life. They recognized their Master.
And what a great Master! He goes in search of his disciples who had deserted him when he needed them most. Now without a word of admonition and revenge he trains them again. He cooks and serves them the breakfast. Normally we expect the disciples to cook and serve their Master. But here we see a reversal of order. The Master cooks and serves his disciples who were not even loyal to him in tribulation. He does not stand ceremonies for he had told them earlier that you must be the servant of all. He always lived what he taught.
Now after they had finished their breakfast, Jesus speaks to Simon Peter. Anyone would have expected Peter to go and kneel at the Masters feet and ask pardon. Or we could expect the Master to call Peter in front of all and make him kneel at his feet and promise never to betray him again. All these things do not happen. These are our human ways of looking at life and events. What we see here is the amazing ways of our risen Saviour. Jesus is so considerate and kind to every one, never causing ay embarrassment to anyone in front of others. The question he asked Peter is, Simon son of John do you love me? After eating the breakfast cooked and served by the Master how else can he reply to this loving question? All the three times that Peter is asked by Jesus, he affirms his love and is finally given the task of leading the Church. Many would have expected him to make a last moment change in the plan and ask John to lead the Church instead of Peter and thus reward him for his faithfulness. This is not the way our Saviour had planned. Only he saw the heart of Peter brimming with love for him. He knew that his Church was going to be full of sinners and saints and only a sinner turned saint like Peter would know how to lead the flock to the shepherd. After all he had come to call sinners to repentance. The repentant Peter is the leader best equipped to help all to accept the loving forgiveness of God.
Our risen Lord told the doubting Thomas; Jesus said to him Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe (Jn 20:29). The blessing is not for Thomas but for all of us who now believe without historical proofs. This is the last beatitude that Jesus has given us and may all of us be blessed by the Risen Saviour. We can make our own the confession of faith by Thomas, my lord and my God (Jn 20:28).