Today's Gospel Reading
The gospel reading, while addressing the duplicitous reaction of the chief priests to the information that Jesus had risen from the dead, is for us in our time and culture a genuine challenge to our personal "status quo."
People visit cemeteries for one reason: to mourn a loved one or close friend. Imagine what would happen if you reported that a visit to our Gate of Heaven Cemetery, or any cemetery, was most unusual. Imagine the reaction if you reported that the grave site of your visit was found to be empty: a large pile of earth beside an empty coffin and the lid to a concrete grave liner and in the bottom of the grave the empty liner. Within an hour CNN would be on the spot. Reporters would be coming from around the world. You would be plagued by interviewers. At the same time there would be questions about foul play, about grave robbers doing the unthinkable. This is what society would surely want. This what the chief priests wanted in order to maintain the "status quo." To report that the convicted and crucified man had risen from his grave would certainly give validity to the reports that Jesus had appeared to some of his friends.
Today, a day after the Christian world celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus, we might ask ourselves again, "Do I really understand what the gospels are reporting to me? Have I honestly thought about the consequences of Jesus' resurrection in my life?" Or, do I move back to the "status quo" of my daily way of living? Do I feel my life needs to be different because I truly believe that Jesus did rise from his tomb? Do I realize that my life has to be different because of this? Can I return to my usual failures, my habitual ways of sin? It is so easy to put the burden of my "status quo" upon other people, other pressures and other desires. Easter Sunday is a reminder that our proclamation that "Jesus Christ is risen today can only result in a new way of living if we truly mean what we say. Otherwise, like the chief priests, we are standing behind the "status quo."
The gospel reading, while addressing the duplicitous reaction of the chief priests to the information that Jesus had risen from the dead, is for us in our time and culture a genuine challenge to our personal "status quo."
People visit cemeteries for one reason: to mourn a loved one or close friend. Imagine what would happen if you reported that a visit to our Gate of Heaven Cemetery, or any cemetery, was most unusual. Imagine the reaction if you reported that the grave site of your visit was found to be empty: a large pile of earth beside an empty coffin and the lid to a concrete grave liner and in the bottom of the grave the empty liner. Within an hour CNN would be on the spot. Reporters would be coming from around the world. You would be plagued by interviewers. At the same time there would be questions about foul play, about grave robbers doing the unthinkable. This is what society would surely want. This what the chief priests wanted in order to maintain the "status quo." To report that the convicted and crucified man had risen from his grave would certainly give validity to the reports that Jesus had appeared to some of his friends.
Today, a day after the Christian world celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus, we might ask ourselves again, "Do I really understand what the gospels are reporting to me? Have I honestly thought about the consequences of Jesus' resurrection in my life?" Or, do I move back to the "status quo" of my daily way of living? Do I feel my life needs to be different because I truly believe that Jesus did rise from his tomb? Do I realize that my life has to be different because of this? Can I return to my usual failures, my habitual ways of sin? It is so easy to put the burden of my "status quo" upon other people, other pressures and other desires. Easter Sunday is a reminder that our proclamation that "Jesus Christ is risen today can only result in a new way of living if we truly mean what we say. Otherwise, like the chief priests, we are standing behind the "status quo."
