Second Sunday of Easter
Divine Mercy Sunday
Acts 5: 12-16; Rev 1: 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20: 19-31
Dc. Larry Brockman
Oh, that all of us could share in the zeal for the Lord that the Apostles had after the Resurrection! What a different world it would be, indeed.
How many of you have seen the film “Risen”? Well, it depicts how one man, one very worldly man, was converted, a career army officer, the Roman Tribune Clavius. The movie opens with Clavius brutally leading an attack against Jewish insurgents in Israel. In recognition for his service, Clavius was ordered by Pilate to assure that Jesus was dead, buried, and guarded. Pilate didn’t want anything to go awry because the Jewish leaders were warning him of Jesus promise to rise from the dead. The Jews were telling him the Apostles planned to steal the body and claim Jesus was risen. And so, Clavius pierced Jesus side with his sword; and supervised the burial into a sealed tomb with 24 hour guards posted there. But alas! The guards fell asleep after a drinking spree, and the body was gone. So, Pilate told the tribune to find the body or else.
Clavius hears stories from the guards about a bright light, stones moving away, and a risen body. But he doesn’t buy any of it. So he hunts for Jesus followers, the likely suspects that would have stolen the body- and finds them. They were cowering in an upper room, hiding from the authorities for fear of arrest. And what does Clavius also find but the risen Jesus meeting with his Apostles there.
That changes everything for Clavius. The impossible had happened, the risen Jesus Christ and life everlasting were real! All the stories he had heard were real.
Of course, the movie is fiction, but it teaches us all a lesson because we can all imagine that Clavius represents each one of us. We are naturally skeptical and find the story hard to believe. But imagine that we are a sinner like Clavius who gets to be a first-hand witness. We would have heard and seen all that Clavius had heard and seen. We would all have been truly converted. We would all feel the real joy of Easter because we would all have seen the risen Christ, just as Clavius did. Things would never, could never, be the same for us. Our priorities in life would change.
As it is, we are all doubting Thomases deep down and Jesus words to Thomas apply to us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” If we had seen, things would never be the same for us. But as it is, we did not see; so we hold back a little; we don’t have that zeal.
The Apostles were filled with zeal because they all saw. And so they moved out of the darkness and into the public square. Solomon’s Portico was indeed a public place. And they fearlessly proclaimed all that the Lord said and did. Indeed, there were no written Gospels or Epistles as yet. But as our Gospel today recounts, the Apostles had been given their marching orders when Jesus appeared to them and the prophecies in the Jewish scriptures had been interpreted for them. The light had come on; they were changed people, and didn’t give a hoot what they authorities would do to them because Jesus had told them they would experience the same resurrection and life with him if they believed. They were fearless witnesses for the Lord and it worked- they converted many people over to their side.
This Sunday we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus has promised that he will extend mercy to all who repent and believe no matter what they have done. Even the Roman Tribune was forgiven, and his was the sword that pierced Jesus. Our readings today deal with the “believe” part of the Divine Mercy promise. We have not seen, but we can still believe; we can all have the same fearless faith that Jesus is asking us to embrace, a faith that Jesus Christ is risen; He is risen indeed. We can all believe because we have heard it all from eye witnesses. Yes, all of us who believe will be forgiven and will rise with him to a new life. And if we really did believe and act on that. Oh what a difference that would make!
Tags: Believing without Seeing. Eyewitnesses you can believe, Fearless for the Lord