Easter Homily
Do not be afraid!
I know that you are looking for Jesus the Crucified.
He is not here. He has been raised exactly as he promised.
This is the core Easter message
and variations of this appear in all the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
He is not here, meaning the Risen Lord is no longer in the tomb.
He is here with us, in you and in me,
in this assembly, in our community.
How often we hear the encouraging words in the Scriptures:
Do not be afraid!
How well God knows us and our frailty!
All through our lives we are constantly challenged by our fears.
When we are kids we are afraid of getting lost
or of being forgotten.
Later we are afraid that we will not be liked,
that we will not be acceptable,
or that will just look stupid.
Still later, we are afraid that we will lose those we love,
those who are so important to our daily lives.
Underlying all of this, of course,
is our awareness of our fundamental fragility and vulnerability as humans.
We can never escape these fears — they are part of our human condition.
But the Risen Lord tells Nicole Gausseron as she writes in The Little Notebook:
Nicole, I am with you — do not be afraid...
I have chosen you; I protect you;
I am leading you — do not be afraid.
Do not be afraid!
I know that you are looking for Jesus the Crucified.
He is not here. He has been raised exactly as he promised.
For Matthew, the belief in the resurrection
is not caused by seeing, touching, and hearing.
To believe in the resurrection is rather to believe
in the mighty acts of God.
In this we get a sense of the Jewish mindset of Matthew.
He is thinking of the creation
of the mighty acts of God at the Red Sea,
at Sinai and in the desert;
or when Israel crosses the Jordan
into a land flowing with milk and honey;
or raising up David and the great prophets.
To believe in the resurrection is to believe in these mighty acts of God,
now being done in the Risen Christ.
The most important reality in the resurrection
is the grace-filled and free action of God.
God raised Jesus from the dead.
The mystery of the resurrection is the mystery of God's own self;
the mystery of God's inscrutable freedom
in the creation, in sending his Beloved Son
who empties himself for our sake;
the mystery of God's commitment to life.
Our God is a God of living of the dead
and God will not let the Beloved Son lay in the tomb
nor will God abandon us.
the mystery of God's sense of justice and compassion.
God will not let his suffering servant, the just one, the innocent one
go unvindicated.
No, God raises this lamb, slain for us, to life.
Do not be afraid!
I know that you are looking for Jesus the Crucified.
He is not here. He has been raised exactly as he promised.
When Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
there is a message and a mission.
"Go and tell..."
The resurrection not a private vision,
for the devotion and edification of the women involved.
Witnessing to the resurrection means "go and tell."
As disciples of Jesus,
these women have been entrusted with a message of reconciliation.
That is, even though the Eleven have fled,
Jesus is reaching out to them.
He is telling them to meet him in Galilee.
"Go, tell my brothers..."
There will be no sour grapes, no grudge.
"Go tell my brothers that I will meet them in Galilee.
Do not be afraid!
I know that you are looking for Jesus the Crucified.
He is not here. He has been raised exactly as he promised.
The women are afraid and yet filled with joy.
They run to tell the disciples
and they meet the Risen Christ.
"Peace be with you!"
It is a peace that neither the world nor any consumer good can give,
a peace that is rooted in the one who has suffered,
the one who has emptied himself completely.
It is a peace that only the Risen Christ can give us.
And the women embrace him
and worship him.
What more fitting response could they have made,
these women disciples.
It is exactly our response to the Risen Lord,
to give thanks and praise,
to worship as the Body of this Risen Christ tonight
and every time we come together to celebrate Eucharist.
Do not be afraid!
I know that you are looking for Jesus the Crucified.
He is not here. He has been raised exactly as he promised.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB
March 26, 2005
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