"Until then, the disciples had not understood that, according to Scripture, Jesus had to rise from the dead".
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Last night, we heard two messengers in dazzling garments tell the women that Jesus himself had announced his death and resurrection when he was still in Galilee. The resurrection is in fact the logical outcome of the Cross. They are like two sides of the same mystery. This is what all Christ's disciples must discover. This morning, let us look at Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, running towards the tomb. The other disciple arrives first, but it is Peter who enters the tomb first, followed by the one who had arrived first. And what they see contradicts all the reasonable solutions they could have thought of when they ran to the tomb after Mary Magdalene had told them that the body had disappeared. No, their master's body had not been stolen or taken and deposited elsewhere. The linen cloths are there, neatly arranged, laid flat, and the shroud that had wrapped around the head is also there, carefully rolled up separately. Everything is in perfect order. Nor can we think of a return to life similar to that of Lazarus, who had come out of the tomb called by Jesus, still wrapped in his bandages. Peter enters and sees all this, the linen cloths and the shroud, but the mystery remains opaque for him.
However, the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, saw the same thing as Peter and immediately believed in the resurrection. Relying on love, this disciple somehow sees further and understands what the emptiness of the tomb means: the victory of love over death. This is what the Scriptures announce. "We are told in the Acts of the Apostles that "God raised him up on the third day, whom they killed by hanging him on a gallows. Jesus received a new life that will have no end, and neither linen nor shroud will ever be useful to him again. The other disciple understands this because he was at the foot of the Cross and was carried by love. The Cross reveals the true face of God, whose very nature is to show mercy, as Saint Bernard says. It allows us to understand the emptiness of the tomb, the victory of love over death, of light over the darkness of hatred. It is the absence of the body that speaks of the presence and action of God.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Let us enter the tomb with the two disciples this morning. Let us celebrate the feast, but not with old ferments. Let us contemplate the tomb where hope has arisen. Let us reproduce the Passover in our lives, a Passover of peace and reconciliation, a Passover of justice and sharing, so that in this Jubilee Year we too can be messengers of hope.
P. Abbot Vladimir
