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Easter Homily 2009
As I said on Holy Thursday, I think the Lord Jesus gave us the Mystery of the Eucharist on that night rather than on Easter night because we would—as long as we are in this world—be encountering him in that sacrament in times of sorrow as well as joy, in times of distress as well as peace, when we are confused and perplexed as well as when we are strong and determined. Now, standing on this side of his death, standing in the arena of resurrection, let us take another look at that.
In St. John’s Gospel there is a poignant incident right after the Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem. Some Greeks approach Philip and say they would like to see Jesus. Philip, in turn, goes and tells Andrew, and the two of them approach Jesus. Jesus seems to answer in the very next line by saying, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified . . . unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains just a kernel of wheat, but if it dies it produces much fruit.” This reply to an ostensible request for an audience has so puzzled some Scripture scholars that some theorize a piece of the text is missing. But is it?
Obviously, “seeing” comprises a wide range of experiences, or more precisely, awareness. How often have we failed to recognize someone we know well simply because we ran into them out of context? In fact, if we look carefully at all the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection, no one recognized Jesus at a distance and ran up to him. Mary of Magdala thinks he is the gardener until he utters her name. The disciples on the road to Emmaus walk and talk with him for quite some time, but do not recognize him until he breaks the bread. The apostles and disciples in the Upper Room think they are seeing a ghost. When seven of them see Jesus again on the shore of the Lake of Tiberius, only the Beloved Disciple recognizes him and then—on his prompting—the others recognize him, with Peter even jumping into the lake to swim to him. And yet even there, when they have breakfast with Jesus on the beach, there is a certain hesitation. As John’s Gospel reports, “And none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they realized it was the Lord.” They know, but there is something radically different. That difference is the risen body of Jesus as opposed to the body he shared with us in its earlier form. I do not mean, in any way, that it was less than a physical body, some “spiritual” thing. Consider that when we see someone after a long separation we may not even recognize him or her simply because the other person has changed. But they did not discard one body for another. They got older. Here Jesus is risen—a crucial difference.
So when you and I go looking for Jesus, it is imperative that we have no preconceived notion of what he should look like now. One of the surest ways to recognize someone is by their voice: not simply how they talk, but what they say. There is a funny incident in the Acts of the Apostles (12;14) when Peter is freed from prison by an angel and he heads for the house Mary, mother of John Mark. When he knocks at the door, Rhoda—the maid—is so overjoyed when she recognizes Peter’s voice that, instead of opening the door, she runs in and announced that Peter is standing at the gate,” leaving him out there. And what did the others say? “You’re crazy. But she insisted.” So they compromised and said “it’s his angel. But Peter continued to knock, and when they opened (the door) they saw him and were astounded.” Yes, for those who believe no proof is necessary, and for those who don’t, no proof is enough. In that incident on the shore of the lake, Jesus spoke and directed the apostles to cast their nets onto the other side of the boat and only then did the Beloved Disciples recognize Jesus. And that’s probably why the Christian community continually refers to Jesus as the Word, and why we read that particular Gospel on Easter: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God . . . and the Word became flesh and lived amongst us.” What he says, and how he says it, is usually what we respond to most immediately. Do you want to see Jesus? Listen for his voice. If you can hear his voice you know he is with you. If you abide in him, and the Holy Spirit is given free reign in you, you will hear his voice—his risen voice. Let me conclude with a little poem by Joseph Plunkett that I heard as a child and which sums it up so perfectly.
I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes;
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice—and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.
All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
Christ is risen! Truly he is risen!