There was a boy in a kindergarten class. He had some real educational and behavioural challenges. He was often in trouble and was rarely able to understand a lesson which caused him to be ridiculed by his peers. His teacher tried to help him fit in but it was a thankless task and she wondered the affect that school was actually having. As they were getting ready for Easter, the teacher handed all the students an empty plastic egg and told them to put something in it that symbolized Easter to them. She pulled the young man aside and told him that he didn’t have to do it, but he said he wanted to. On Easter Tuesday they came back to school and each child brought their egg and explained what they had put in the egg. They ranged from chicks to crosses to chocolate. The little boy was very excited but the teacher was doubtful and, wanting to spare him embarrassment, tried to dissuade him. Yet he wanted to do it so the teacher took his egg and opened it. To her dismay she saw that it was empty. She frowned and the children started to laugh at the boy. One little one asked, “Why is it empty?” The little boy said, “Because the tomb was empty and that is how we knew Jesus had risen from the tomb.”
The tomb was empty. What a surprise to the story! In a certain sense we should be surprised to find that the tomb was empty. I know there will be shows and panels of experts which try to explain to us unwitting souls about how this couldn’t have happened and try like a lawyer to forgive a guilty man by tricks of the law. But the force of the evidence is that He came back to life and rose from the tomb. There were many witnesses to the fact and they gave their lives for this testimony. They performed miracles, just like him. There is also the physical evidence that we still have today of the Shroud and, more importantly, the cloth that was on the face of the Lord when He rose. The veil of Manoppello was made from an unimprintable fabric yet it contains the face of the risen Christ with eyes open.
The Resurrection is the final piece to the puzzle and, if it is true, we are most blessed. But, if it is not, we are the most stupid of people for giving our lives for this mystery. Even to this day people are dying for our faith. This morning even in Sri Lanka, Catholics who went to meet the risen Lord also encountered the hatred of cowardly terrorists in three of their Churches.
What does the Resurrection mean to us? It means that the power of death has been defeated. What does that mean? It means that Heaven has been opened and those who participate in the grace of God can be saved.
I would like to mention two characters that stood out to me this morning: Judas and Peter. They were similar. They both were Apostles, both did missionary work, both worked miracles and drove out demons. Both had trusted places among the Apostles. Peter was the leader of the Apostles and Judas was the money keeper. Both betrayed Our Lord – Judas for money and perhaps out of spite for being corrected, and Peter out of fear. We might let Peter off easy saying he was afraid but he put himself under oath not to fail and Judas did not. So Peter’s betrayal could even have been worse. Both encountered the depth of their sin.
How were they different? Peter had previously experienced the Lord’s forgiveness on a few occasions when he said something stupid or did something stupid. Peter could take correction. Peter believed in the Eucharist; Judas did not, he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Peter went to the Lord and received forgiveness. Judas despaired and killed himself.
Ignoring our sins, down playing our sins is not the same as forgiving them. Judas was struck with the reality that he had chosen pride and money instead of the Lord. He knew that life that he missed out on. He knew that he had a chance to be the Lord’s intimate friend. Even at the Last Supper he sat right next to him. And yet Judas chose his pride, his ego, his woundedness. He stayed in that woundedness. He forgot that he had seen miracles. He forgot that he had done miracles because he never experienced the miracle of mercy.
What are we going to do when we encounter the depth of what we have really done, when we realize that our sins crucified the Lord? Will we have the experience of the Lord’s mercy like Peter and weep bitterly? Will we know the Lord intimately like Peter and know He is greater than our sins? Today we have an opportunity to meet the risen Lord and encounter His power to forgive and wipe away our sins so that they never will be heard of again in the court of Heaven. Or …..?