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THE RESURECTION OF CHRIST
Night ends, day comes. The tomb is empty; the stone has been moved away. Why are you seeking the one who is alive among the dead? He is not here. He has risen.
Jesus did not rise from the tomb to live on earth; he has moved from the place of the dead to be in eternal life with the Father. The resurrection of Jesus is, at the same time continuity and rupture. The one who has risen is Jesus of Nazareth. There exists a continuity of identity, but there is a rupture of the way he exists in space and time. The body of the risen Jesus does not belong to the physical universe of space and time; Jesus lives in another world. The resurrection of Jesus is a real transformation, a transfigured life.
We are being told that life cannot die. Life is eternal; it doesn’t die. The resurrection of Jesus is not a marvel, but rather a victory. The resurrection of Christ is an act of God where Jesus moves from death to true life. Jesus is at the same time, the risen one and the one who resurrects. His resurrection is also the resurrection of others. It is not just a personal victory but, in a mysterious way, leads those who are alienated to true life. The resurrection, like the cross is a battle, a relinquishing of evil. It is a victory of life over death. It is that which is unexpected, a surprise, a freely given gift.
The resurrection took place during the night and in secret, probably to tell us that it is not immediately obvious. Lively faith in the resurrection of Christ will be expressed in a specific way by our adherence to the new life that is offered to us. What matters is our determination to make a definitive option for life, to accept to enter into the covenant that God wishes to make with human beings. “Today I offer you life, welcome it into yourself, into your own form of death; welcome the life of the Risen One, welcome the new life. I count on you to create life wherever you go, not any kind of quality of life but the life of the Risen One.”
The resurrection is offered to us, it is given to the one who receives it; acceptance of the resurrection is a life-giving experience. To learn to receive it, to welcome it in the integrity of your being, body, spirit, heart, is to allow God to bring about in us and with us the task of the resurrection.
“Oser La vie nouvelle”
Simone Pacot – Les Editions du Cerf
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