During the Easter Vigil the Gospel proclaimed is from the Gospel of Matthew. He tells us that everything begins “after the Sabbath, at dawn of the first day.” This is not just a detail about time. It is the beginning of a new creation. Easter is not only about what happened to Jesus; it is about the birth of a new reality. Something has changed, not only for him, but for the whole world.
The first people to arrive at the tomb do not come with certainty or understanding. They come with love. The women are not expecting the resurrection. They simply remain faithful. They stay close to Jesus even when everything seems finished. And it is precisely there, in that quiet fidelity, that something new begins. Not certainty, but love opens the way to encounter.
Then suddenly, everything is shaken with a great earthquake. This is not accidental. There was already an earthquake at the moment of Jesus’ death. The two belong together. At the cross, the old world is shaken and brought to its end. At the resurrection, a new world begins.
This is why the resurrection is not a small or private event. It is cosmic. Creation itself trembles because something fundamental has changed: death no longer has the final word.
The angel descends and rolls back the stone. But not to let Jesus out, he is already risen. The stone is moved for us. So that we can see. So that we can understand. The resurrection is already accomplished. The question is whether we are ready to recognize it.
And then there is a powerful reversal. The guards, who represent control and the attempt to seal death, are themselves shaken and become like dead men. Those who stand on the side of death are paralyzed by fear, while the crucified one lives. Easter overturns everything. What seemed strong is revealed as fragile; what seemed defeated is revealed as alive.
Into this moment comes a encouragement that runs through the Scriptures: “Do not be afraid.” The women experience both fear and great joy. This is not a contradiction. It is what happens when we encounter something greater than ourselves. Faith does not mean the absence of fear, it means that fear is transformed into trust.
And immediately, they are sent: “Go quickly and tell…” The resurrection does not leave people where they are. It moves them. It sends them. It opens a path forward.
This “earthquake” is not only something that happened long ago. It is also something that must happen within us. There are places in our lives that feel sealed like a tomb; areas marked by fear, resignation, disappointment, or the sense that nothing can change. We all carry stones that seem immovable.
Easter is God entering precisely those places. The resurrection shakes what we thought was fixed. It opens what we believed was closed. It tells us that what seems final is not final.
The risen Christ is not found by staying at the tomb. The women meet him on the way, as they go, as they trust the word they have received. And again they hear: “Do not be afraid… go and tell my brothers.”
This is how fear is overcome: not by explanations, but by encounter. Not by having everything figured out, but by walking forward in trust.
The resurrection is like one great earthquake with three dimensions. It is cosmic, because all creation is shaken. It is historical, because a new world begins. And it is personal, because each of us is called to let our own closed places be opened.
The stone is already removed. The question is whether we are willing to step into this new life and feel the urgency to go and bring the good news: Christ is Risen, Alleluya!
No comments:
Post a Comment