Mary Magdalene was in distress and she was weeping.
She, with some other women, wished to visit Jesus grave site only to find that His body is missing and they have no idea who took it. Two angels
appeared to her and ask her the reason for crying and she replied, “They have
taken my Lord away, and I do not where they have put him.” At that instant
Jesus appeared to stand behind her and ask the same question, “Why are you
crying?”, as He continued, “Who is it you are looking for?”. She turned around
and without recognizing the Lord, mistaking Him to be the gardener, replied,
“If you took Him away, sir, tell me where you have put Him and I will go and
get Him.”
The tomb is empty.
The stone cover is removed.
The linen cloths are lying around.
The head cloth was rolled up by itself.
The angels stood guard to announce the good news.
The Lord is risen.
His ultimate victory over sin and death is consummated.
His mission of salvation is complete.
The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all gave
beautiful stories and narratives of Jesus’ life after death that any Christian
would have wished that the New Testament part ends on that note – the
triumphant resurrection and glorious ascension of the Lord. And yet we all know
that Christ’s mission and commission to all parts of the world has actually
just started for His disciples.
Indeed, this is still true for us living in our present
time.
Christ’s mission is very much on-going.
And we might very well ask ourselves these questions:
Where have I taken the Lord in my life up to now? Is He truly
resurrected or just a passing Lenten tradition? After this Lent is over, will I
go back to the dark graves of my envy, lust, jealousy, hatred and greed? Will I
roll back the stone cover of indifference and apathy to my own grave, with the
intent of keeping out the light of Jesus to shine on me?
When we pondered on our answers to these questions, will we
weep bitterly in realizing that Jesus has not really been resurrected yet into
our hearts? That Jesus is like the unrecognized gardener near the tomb or the
stranger walking between two believers on the road to Emmaus. Even His apostles
who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee barely know it was Him until He made
Himself known to them. Do we even act out like Thomas who was never prevailed
upon to believe despite his friends’ testimonies that the Lord indeed is risen?
Or are we going to feel joy and peace in our hearts knowing
that despite our frailties and weaknesses, Jesus is well and alive in our
lives? We may fail at times but we believe that the Lord does not look at our
iniquities but on our true value and our heavenly destination. We look forward
to each day, full of hope and love to share; gifts which we received first from the
Lord.
So let us take the Lord, first and foremost, into our own
heart.
Afterwards, we can we effectively take Him to others.
Maligayang Pasko po ng Pagkabuhay.
God bless.
