A reading from the gospel according to John 20:1-9:

1 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”
3 So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
4 They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first;
5 he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
6 When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
7 and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
8 Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.
9 For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Reflection: Resurrection

There is a moment early in the morning that is darkest. Yet in that moment some 2,000 years ago, one woman found the tomb was empty. Halleluia! Jesus has risen from the dead!

It was the first day of the week. The disciples were still in fear but the good news has arrived. Jesus the Messiah is not dead. He is alive! And the history of the world is to pivot to this momentous event.

Nobody has witnessed the moment of resurrection. Nobody knows how it happened. The gospel passage above is a story after the fact and it only mentions that John saw and believed. What did he believe? That the tomb is indeed empty? You don’t have to believe that because you see it. One can only believe what he didn’t see but knew it in his heart that it happened. You don’t have to understand it either. You just knew it is there.

This is the core of our faith as followers of Jesus Christ. Saint Paul says that if Jesus has not been raised, our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). Let us rejoice and be glad because the Lord has turned darkness into light, our sorrows into joy, and our disappointment into an appointment with eternal life.

For more reflection, go here.