So, when did the apostles know? This question seems inevitable in meditating upon Jesus’ Resurrection and the fullness of joy it brings. The gospel readings give us important hints. During last night’s vigil Mass, we heard a passage from the Gospel of Luke where we heard that, after Peter ran to the tomb and saw the burial cloths alone, he went home amazed at what had happened. Did he really know yet? In the gospel passage from John that we heard today – we heard about that the other disciple – most scripture scholars agree that this is St. John – “saw and believed” after he entered the empty tomb. The other disciples came to believe after the risen Lord appeared to them in the Upper Room. Now, it all began to make sense to them. It was just as the Scriptures had foretold and just as Jesus had said.
And, what about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Sacred Scriptures are silent in this regard but the great theologian St. Ambrose was convinced that Mary must have been the first to both see and believe in her Son’s Resurrection. Although there is no scriptural evidence to support it, St. Ambrose believed that the Blessed Mother spent the time between her son’s death and his resurrection in vigil at his tomb. St. Ambrose’s conviction of this comes alongside his reflections on the other devoted women, who rushed to the tomb to anoint Christ’s body as soon as dawn broke and the Sabbath restrictions were lifted. In the light of day, having endured the night, the women set forth in love, but they experienced a kind of blindness when they saw the stone rolled away. They, too, were about to pivot from sorrow to joy, but – unlike the Blessed Mother – they first stumbled into doubt. Our translation tells us that they were “puzzled”; they had not yet seen aright or believed. The two bedazzling angels terrified them, causing them to bow their faces to the ground, whether in physical pain to the eyes or spiritual pain to the heart. The angels offered the Easter tidings to them in the simplest, gentlest terms: “He is not here, but he has been raised.” Then, as if recognizing that the human mind is not as quick as those of the heavenly hosts, the angels encouraged the women, step by step, to “Remember what he said to you.” Only following this angelic encouragement do the women finally recall what Christ had told them and entered the confidence that it really was just as he said it would be. The angels helped the women to pivot from sorrow, through their doubt, and into Easter joy by recalling Christ’s promises and recognizing their fulfillment. While they, too, were now reading the signs like Mary, their own announcement of this news to the apostles did not go well. If the women were puzzled by the empty tomb, the disciples – away from the physical proof of the stone rolled away – thought the women are talking nonsense. The notable exception is Peter. We can interpret his running to the tomb, his “stooping and looking in,” as another moment of seeing on its way to believing. He had to bend down, lowering himself, to peer inside the tomb.
Level with the darkness, he saw the signs of life: the “burial cloths alone.” He went home “wondering at what had happened.” Peter is not described here as puzzled or confused, like the women, but rather as in a state of wonder and awe. It is his turn to be on the pivot. Having read the signs, he is teetering in faith toward Easter joy.
So, what about us? When did we come to believe in the Resurrection of our Lord? When did it sink in that Jesus really has risen from the dead and that his Resurrection gives us a real, eternal purpose in life? At our baptism – that all-important sacrament that gives us new life – we are given the promise of eternal life in God’s loving embrace as we become his adopted sons and daughters. I can’t recall the exact moment I first encountered this great truth but I often reflect on it, grateful to God for sending his son to live among us to show us his love in person. Like all of you, I’m sure, I often spend time before the crucifix and meditate on our Lord’s love demonstrated most clearly on that cross. And, inevitably, I am assured as I reflect on that first Easter day when our Lord’s resurrection lifts us up, wherever we find ourselves, with the promise of eternal joy in God’s kingdom. It always gives me deep, enduring peace no matter what I’m facing in my daily life.
Today is, indeed, a day when, like Peter, we go home amazed at what has happened. Like John, we have come to believe. Jesus has died and been raised to new life. In him, we live in the hope of joining with all who have come to believe this for all eternity before the face of God. Alleluia! Praise God!