Easter Sunday
Saint John arrived first at the tomb because he was younger and could run faster. Saint Jerome says that the wings of celibacy allowed John arrive first. But he did not go in, out of deference to Peter. This is an indication that Peter was already regarded as the leader of the Apostles. “He saw and believed.” What did he see? The linen on the ground. John knew Jesus well and he could say his body wasn’t stolen. You can go to a room in your house and say: I know who’s been here. The dishes are all on the sink, her clothes are all over her room, he’s been in the kitchen because all the chocolate is gone.
“The linen clothes lying there.” The Greek participle translated as ‘lying there’ seems to indicate that the clothes were flattened, deflated, as if they were emptied when the body of Jesus rose and disappeared, as if it had come out of the clothes and bandages without their being unrolled, passing right through them, just as later he entered the Cenacle or upper room when the doors where shut. This would explain the clothes being ‘fallen’, ‘flat’, ‘lying’, which is how the Greek literally translates them, after Jesus’ body, which had filled them, left them. One can readily understand how this would amaze a withness, how unforgettable the scene would be. You don’t steal a body and leave what’s around him there.
“The napkin rolled up in a place by itself.” The first point to note is that the napkin, which had been wrapped round the head, was not on top of the clothes, but placed on one side. The second, even more surprising thing is that, like the clothes, it was still rolled up but, unlike the clothes, it still had a certain volume, like a container, possibly due to the stiffness given it by the ointments: this is what the Greek participle, here translated as ‘rolled’, seems to indicate. From these details concerning the empty tomb one deduces that Jesus’ body must have risen in a heavenly manner, that is, in a way which transcended the laws of nature. It was not only a matter of the body being reanimated as happened, for example, in the case of Lazarus, who had to be unbound before he could walk.
We remember now the Holy Shroud, the famous relic in Turin. John Paul II said that “the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel.” Benedict XVI had a lot of devotion to Holy Saturday because he was baptised on this day: “this sacred Cloth can nourish and foster faith and reinvigorate Christian devotion because it spurs us to go to the Face of Christ, to the Body of the Crucified and Risen Christ, to contemplate the Paschal Mystery, the heart of the Christian message.” People go to see the shroud to contemplate Jesus’ face. To see God, to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ, to be eternally happy through the vision of the divine glory, is the human being’s deepest desire, although millions of people are unaware of this aspiration.
The evangelists talk about the empty tomb. It means that Jesus is alive. It is very important for our faith. It is the icon of the resurrection. Tradition says that Jesus appeared first to His Mother. It was so obvious that the evangelists didn’t even to bother to mention it.
josephpich@gmail.com
Easter Sunday
Saint John arrived first at the tomb because he was younger and could run faster. Saint Jerome says that the wings of celibacy allowed John arrive first. But he did not go in, out of deference to Peter. This is an indication that Peter was already regarded as the leader of the Apostles. “He saw and believed.” What did he see? The linen on the ground. John knew Jesus well and he could say his body wasn’t stolen. You can go to a room in your house and say: I know who’s been here. The dishes are all on the sink, her clothes are all over her room, he’s been in the kitchen because all the chocolate is gone.
“The linen clothes lying there.” The Greek participle translated as ‘lying there’ seems to indicate that the clothes were flattened, deflated, as if they were emptied when the body of Jesus rose and disappeared, as if it had come out of the clothes and bandages without their being unrolled, passing right through them, just as later he entered the Cenacle or upper room when the doors where shut. This would explain the clothes being ‘fallen’, ‘flat’, ‘lying’, which is how the Greek literally translates them, after Jesus’ body, which had filled them, left them. One can readily understand how this would amaze a withness, how unforgettable the scene would be. You don’t steal a body and leave what’s around him there.
“The napkin rolled up in a place by itself.” The first point to note is that the napkin, which had been wrapped round the head, was not on top of the clothes, but placed on one side. The second, even more surprising thing is that, like the clothes, it was still rolled up but, unlike the clothes, it still had a certain volume, like a container, possibly due to the stiffness given it by the ointments: this is what the Greek participle, here translated as ‘rolled’, seems to indicate. From these details concerning the empty tomb one deduces that Jesus’ body must have risen in a heavenly manner, that is, in a way which transcended the laws of nature. It was not only a matter of the body being reanimated as happened, for example, in the case of Lazarus, who had to be unbound before he could walk.
We remember now the Holy Shroud, the famous relic in Turin. John Paul II said that “the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel.” Benedict XVI had a lot of devotion to Holy Saturday because he was baptised on this day: “this sacred Cloth can nourish and foster faith and reinvigorate Christian devotion because it spurs us to go to the Face of Christ, to the Body of the Crucified and Risen Christ, to contemplate the Paschal Mystery, the heart of the Christian message.” People go to see the shroud to contemplate Jesus’ face. To see God, to contemplate the face of Jesus Christ, to be eternally happy through the vision of the divine glory, is the human being’s deepest desire, although millions of people are unaware of this aspiration.
The evangelists talk about the empty tomb. It means that Jesus is alive. It is very important for our faith. It is the icon of the resurrection. Tradition says that Jesus appeared first to His Mother. It was so obvious that the evangelists didn’t even to bother to mention it.
josephpich@gmail.com