LIVE OUT THE EASTER LIFE OF CHRIST

SERMON: LIVE OUT THE EASTER LIFE OF CHRIST

31 March 2024

UTS Salakot Ecumenical Church

Dasmarinas, Cavite

5:00 A.M.

By Rev. Frank J. Hernando, Ed.D.

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 

John 20:1-18

20Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning friends!  Today we commemorate Easter, or the day that Jesus Christ, our Savior rose from the grave. That is three (3) days after he was crucified, died and buried in a tomb. We celebrate Easter as the culmination of the six (6) weeks of the Season of Lent. This has been the period of introspection, reflection, or pagninilay-nilay and time to fulfill pledges and vows to God. For the herbularyo or Oriental medicine practitioners it was the time  to collect the herbs, roots and other plants proven to have healing properties. 

Also the babaylan or prophets/ prophetess and priests /priestess make use of the Season of Lent to sharpen their spiritual acuity or heightened awareness of spiritual truths, principles and energies. More so our pastors have dug their minds in studying and reflecting on the Scriptures on the meaning and relevance of the passion, death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

The first day of the week on which Jesus resurrected from the dead is the culmination of the Season of Lent. In many cultural settings, Easter has been celebrated in a triumphant and victorious mood. In Tagalog we say “Pasko ng Pagkabuhay”; “Pascua sang Pagkabanhaw” (Hilgaynon, quite close to Cebuano which is Pasko sa Pagkabanhaw. It is a feast because many Filipino families prepare sumptuous meals on Easter. Our brothers and sisters from the Roman Catholic, IFI, and Anglican traditions hold the Easter vigil or “Salubong” which is a meeting where the statues of resurrected Christ and the Virgin Mary are brought in procession to meet each other. This is symbolic of the meeting of Jesus and his mother after his resurrection.

In our Scripture text from the Gospel of John, we are reminded of the first day of the week, when Jesus rose from the dead. There were personal encounters in the perimeter of the tomb where Jesus was buried. The distance where the disciples were staying for the last three days may not be very far from the tomb as hinted by Mary Magdalene, the Beloved Disciple and Peter running the distance to and from the tomb. From the narrative, I  have selected three salient points for this meditation.

 

FIRST, Mary Magdalene was the first to discover that the tomb was open and suspected that the dead body of Jesus was stolen and some people cou;d have moved it out and transferred the body elsewhere. She was the first to tell the news to the disciples that alarmed Peter and the Beloved Disciple and immediately rushed to the tomb. The visuals inside the tomb mentioned were– the linen cloth and the still tied face hanky tells a unique story, not robbery–as the linen cloths were left behind and the robbers could not move a naked dead body out of the tomb. What the two male disciples saw in the tomb had two reactions, Peter was bewildered and scared, but the Beloved Disciple believed that Jesus triumphantly resurrected from the dead. 

Our scientific mind tells us that we believe what our senses can investigate. That’s fair enough. Later in the resurrection appearances, disciple Thomas requested to touch Jesus’ wounds in his hands. Thomas believed when he himself touched the pierced hand of Jesus and then his wound on his side. It was only then that he believed in the resurrection of Jesus. However, Jesus told his disciples, blessed are those who did not see yet believed. We are a people of faith who believe  in Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer. 

We are the bearers of hope for freedom and justice for our people who live in the shadows of fear, persecution and death. 

SECOND, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and she becomes the first witness to the resurrection of Christ. In many Christian communities wherein patriarchal culture is strong it is a struggle for a woman being a witness of the living Lord. Yet the Gospel of John as well as the Synoptic Gospels tell us in various ways that a woman's witness does count! Somehow this may jar cultural sensibilities, but the church of Jesus Christ ought to be the place where people, especially women and youth can find the freedom to transcend socio-cultural and even political boundaries and limitations and fulfill God's design and purpose for the individual and the corporate body of the church.

Mary Magdalene wanted to touch Jesus, but he insisted she should not. It looks like physical touching was not the proper way of reconnecting with the risen Christ. The physicality of God-human relationship was temporarily suspended not because God does not like it or puts a lower value to it, but allowing a fresh start in their relationships which has evolved beyond the physical existence to a spiritual and divine relationship. 

Mary Magdalene must learn to let go of old categories of relating that she had been used to and accept a new paradigm of faith, or start embracing maturity and  assume new responsibility as a disciple of Jesus. 

Jirair Tashjian commented: Mary Magdalene’s  relationship to Jesus will no longer be one of physical sight or touch. She must learn to experience the daily presence of Christ through the mediating work of Another Comforter, the Spirit of truth that Christ will send. She will have to bear witness to what she has seen and heard, in spite of cultural barriers. Will she hang on to the old ways, or will she launch into this new adventure of faith? It's only when Mary lets go of Jesus that she can really see him and what he is about to do. "Going to the Father" is a spatial metaphor which reminds us that Jesus of Nazareth was himself an icon of God. There is more to the Mystery we call God than the physical Jesus. Jesus points to the Father (Godhead). (unquote)

Recent developments in our life as a community have manifested the difficulty of letting go, whether in the tasks and responsibility we’ve been doing. We tend to claim responsibilities which are no longer ours, and oftentimes they are stressors. Letting go of these tasks and responsibilities free us from stress and accountability, because after all it is no longer our task and responsibilities to perform.

Furthermore, Jirair Tashjian says, Letting go is an active giving before we are ready. It is giving up possessions and ideas and certainties when we see no path forward or no things to replace them. At the most basic level we practice letting go by giving our possessions. As much as we seek to hold on to possessions as ours, rather than things which are temporarily with us but which we do not own, then just so much do we fail to be part of the new community of neighbours, and by just so much do we fail to experience the richness of that new community. (unquote)

THREE:

Easter Day for Christians is the victory of God's power over the reign of darkness or evil that thrive through state aggression and the systematic exploitation of the poor and the marginalized. In the Easter day narratives from the Synoptic Gospels, we can gather the emotional tremors of the disciples for they have been traumatized of the execution of Jesus on the cross outside the city of Jerusalem. 

We can empathize with the disciples' anxiety and feeling of desolation because of the shocking experiences of betrayal of Judas, the Last Supper, the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The extent of human violence and inhumanity to others, particularly on the poor peasants and artisans who were followers of Jesus was unprecedented. 

They have encountered the iron hand of Imperial Rome in the person of Pilate and the religious-cultural predominance of the Jewish leaders. It looks like that the heavens fell on those at the foot of the cross and on the disciples who were hiding somewhere for fear for their lives, trying to connect the dots of faith and perseverance in the midst of violence and death. 

But the resurrection of Jesus gave a new way of seeing things from the perspective of Jesus and his ministry among the people who were discriminated against and abandoned by the State and the empire. Twenty one (21) years ago, I wrote a free-verse  poem using my own picture wearing sunglasses on a Summer day while biking on Seoul Han River Park. The poem mentions historical details but the realities in which we live are almost the same. Listen:

I CAN CLEARLY SEE THE SUFFERING OF MY PEOPLE

By Frank Hernando

10 August 2012

Seoul, Korea

My eyes can see beyond the dark sunglasses I'm wearing momentarily.

Ah, I've seen

on TV, through internet news, Facebook and Twitter how over 2 million of the Filipino people have been suffering in the catastrophic floods, of biblical proportion, e.g. deluge in the story of Noah brought about by typhoon Gener and the convergence of monsoon rains.

Soon

infectious diseases brought by water contamination will be like the biblical plagues in the time of Exodus.

But I know,

the plague of massive poverty has been there for a long time. I am a living evidence of that miserable situation, which I thought was my parents' laziness.

No, no, no!

The social systems both national and global caused the marginalization of peoples in natural resource rich countries like the Philippines.

Natural calamities

like typhoons are common, but not floods. So much has change in the environment, congestion of buildings, transportation infras, CO2 emissions, mining operations, are some of the causes of climatic change;

I'm infuriated

by the press statement of Benigno Aquino III on Youtube yesterday how the government has been responding to the flooding in the country.

I can see

that He smiled as if it's okay to suffer. It seems the flooding is a commonplace, trying to hide his incompetence and his connivance in not implementing flood control measures and infras.

I can see

the floods as the measure of the government's economic and political development.

I can see

that Benigno Aquino III is masquerading his vested political and economic interests, profiteering from the international aid which is intended for the people but gets into bureaucratic pouches.

I can see

that the urban poor people have nothing left in the aftermath of the floods; the rich get more revenues from massive purchase of relief goods and bottled water by relief organizations and government agencies.

I can see

the hunger and indebtedness of subsistence farmers intensified.

I can see

the workers in factories have no wages for work stoppage due to floods.

I can see

the empty tables in the homes of jeepney and bus drivers who could not earn their day's wages.

I can see

the scrambling of scaps and whatever has been salvage from the floods by scavengers.

I can see

that people who are capable of giving support are reluctant to give, because they would rather use their extra money for their holidays or fashion or high tech gadgets.

I can see

that the impact of natural disasters will worsen in the coming years, unless the Filipinos are prepared; unless the Philippine government consciously and willfully prioritize creating a just society.

I can see

the Filipino rising from the heaps of the ravages of the floods, the organized workers, farmers, youth, faith communities, women and youth, urban poor and other sectors of society committedly respond to the sufferings of the people.+

That was composed in 2012. Four years ago year 2020, the Covid 19 pandemic affected the entire country and many parts of the world. In my Easter blog in 2021 I describe the impact of COVID-19 through a mixed-media wall painting in this manner:

The painting  was reproduced through a photo from my camera. It is a symbolism for Easter with the empty cross with white cloth hanging on the horizontal element of the cross. The photo file is edited using photoshop express and an overlay was applied to get a cubism effect of the background of the painting. The colorful halo symbolizes the innate spiritual power that the sufferer on the cross possesses. The light blue surgical masks signify the immense challenge of the spike in infections of Covid-19 virus in the country. In many ways the pandemic impacted expressions of faith and witness of Christian communities.

CONCLUSION

The resurrection of Jesus Christ overcomes the power of death and challenges the imperial and coercive state powers like in the Philippines to do justice and set free the people from the bondage of powerlessness and oppression. We bring good news of new life, not just today, but in our everyday life in our homes, in society and the world. We should assert the value and dignity of life in our society, articulate the live-giving programs for the people. Let us make our faith alive in prophetic witness, articulating new ways of doing our mission so that fear of disease, death and even of tyranny will be vanquished. May the vision of God's kingdom be made clearer in our experience of Easter Day. Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Happy Easter! Amen. +++FJH+