The serpent’s
bite was a deadly one. The venom had worked its way deep into the heart of
humanity, doing its gruesome work. The anti-venom was unavailable till He
appeared. One drop was all that was needed, so potent was this antidote. Yet it
was not like Him to be stingy. The sacrifice of His entire life poured out to
the last drop at the foot of the cross – This was the Son’s answer to the
Problem of Sin.
EASTER AND
THE PROBLEM OF DEATH
Three days
later came the Father’s equally extravagant answer to the Problem of Death. For
Jesus was not simply brought back to life like Lazarus. That would be
resuscitation, the return to normal, mortal life. Yes, Lazarus ultimately had
to go through it all again . . . the dying, the grieving family, the burial.
Jesus did not “come back.” He passed over, passed through. Death, as St. Paul
said, would have no more power over him.
If you said
that physical death was not the worst consequence of sin, you’d be right.
Separation from God, spiritual death, is much more fearsome. But enough of this
talk of physical death as beautiful and natural. It is neither. Our bodies are
not motor vehicles driven around by our souls. We do not junk them when they
wear out and buy another (that’s why reincarnation is all wrong). Rather, our
bodies are essential to who we are. For human beings, body and immortal souls
are intimately intertwined, making us so different from both angels and
animals. Death separates what God has joined. It is natural that we shudder
before it. Even the God-man trembled in the Garden.
So Jesus
confronts death head on. The ancient Roman Easter Sequence, a traditional part
of the Easter liturgy, highlights the drama: “Mors et vitae duello, conflixere
mirando. Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus.” (“Death and life dueled in a
marvelous conflict; the Dead Ruler of Life reigns Alive!”).
MEANING OF
RESURRECTION – A NEW HUMANITY
Jesus endured
the wrenching of body and soul for our sake and came out the other side endowed
with a new, different, glorified humanity. How does the Bible describe it?
Well, Mary Magdalene did not recognize the Risen Christ at first. The disciples
walking to Emmaus didn’t recognize him either. But Doubting Thomas shows us
that his wounds were still evident. And though he could pass through locked
doors, he proved he was not a ghost by asking for something to eat. Paul speaks
of a “spiritual body” in I Corinthians 15, which sounds like an oxymoron to me.
But we have to take off our shoes here, realize that we are on holy ground, and
that we do not have words adequate to describe the awesome reality of the new
humanity he won for us on that first Easter.
EASTER – A
SHARE IN HIS RISEN LIFE
For
resurrection is not something that He keeps for Himself. All that He has he
shares with us: His Father, His mother, His Spirit, His body, blood, soul, and
divinity, and even His risen life. And we can begin to share in this risen Life
now, experiencing its regenerating power in our souls and even in our bodies.
We have access to it in many ways, but especially in the Eucharist. For the
body of Christ received in this sacrament is his risen, glorified body, so that
we too will live forever (read John 6:40-65).
THE FINAL
EASTER
Each of us
will pass through physical death, but not alone. He will be with us, just as
the Father was with Him as He made his perilous passage. And while we will
experience indescribable joy when our souls “see” him face to face, this is not
the end of the story. He will return. Then His resurrection will have its
ultimate impact. Joy will finally be full on that final Easter when he makes our
bodies like his own, in glory. “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and
the life of the world to come. Amen!”
Article - https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/easter-the-meaning-of-the-feast/
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