εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizo)
“to announce the Good News of victory in battle”
“After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.
His appearance was like lightning and
his clothing was white as snow.
The guards were shaken with fear of him
and became like dead men.
Then the angel said to the women in reply,
“Do not be afraid! I know
that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.
He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.
Come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
‘He has been raised from the dead, and
he is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
Then they went away quickly from the tomb,
fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.””
θεωρέω (theoreo)
(“to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning”)
While other Evangelists give reasons for the women journeying to Jesus’ tomb, Saint Matthew presents no explanation why “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” journeyed to the tomb in the dawning hours of the “first day of the week.” Yet they are there and it is through their eyes that Saint Matthew chronicles the unfolding of events with language grounded in Jewish apocalyptic and eschatological imagery.
As is the case in this Gospel, ἰδοὺ (idou, translated “behold” and employed close to 50 times in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew) often signals a divine intervention because of a limit situation facing humanity. In these occurrences, humanity struggles with mortality and the realization that, in spite of intellect and great advances, we ultimately do not control the ‘horizontal and vertical of life.’ And so, a classic theophany (God showing) breaks the silence and the hope-filled coloring of the dawning day – an earthquake shakes the very pillars of creation and the very grounding of human life. The Old Testament does not pen many earthquakes, but the ones recorded occasionally view them as a response to Israel’s lack of obedience to the demands of convent living such as the ones in Ezekiel 38 and in Isaiah 29. Yet earthquakes are also a theophany of presence, a theophany of encounter. The earthquake Elijah lived through was a preparation for encountering the Lord in the gentle whisper (1 Kings 19). Regardless of the reason, a biblical earthquake alerts one of a particular intervention of God in the created order. Such intervention is intensified with the actions of the “angel of the Lord” who “rolled back the stone and sat upon it.” The angel’s appearance and guard’s reaction evoke connections with the Book of Daniel as well as other apocalyptic sections of Scripture that boldly proclaim the final triumph of all that is good. This does not mean that humanity completely understands what happens in the present moment. Both Marys are silent and listen attentively to the angel’s words and then act immediately on those words thus demonstrating their true and genuine discipleship.
The angelic instruction, crucial on that first Resurrection Sunday, is equally crucial for the present-day disciple:
1. “Do not be afraid.” While a natural and understandable human response to this command is often, “easier said than done,” Scripture is filled with this potent command. Whether fear is primordial (see Psalm 91) or fear from a potential invading foe or army, the Word of God remains consistent, “Do not be afraid.” Fear triggers the fight-flight mechanism that is woven into our DNA for survival. In the face of a perceived threat to life, “I” begin to think of ways to preserve life, a natural and needed action. Yet sometimes that thinking can become somewhat solitary, disconnecting one from living life relationally. God’s Word that summons one not to fear is grounded in the reality that we have been created in the image and likeness of God, the same God Who says, “I will never forget you. See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you.” (Isaiah 49:15-16) This will also be the final word spoken by the Risen Incarnate Word prior to His Ascension, “… And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).
2. “… you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised…” The “angel of the Lord” is clear. Jesus has been raised; in other words, He has NOT been resuscitated. He is resurrected. The difference, if one can use that term, between resuscitation and Resurrection is at the very heart of the Good News of Christianity. The Resurrection of Jesus makes the sacred Texts of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John Gospel: no Resurrection, no Gospel; no Resurrection, no Christianity. Resuscitation involves a work that brings one back to living this life with all of its finite, limited joys and sorrows. Resurrection is more properly a birth to a new way of existing. Resurrection (see
Catechism of the Catholic Church) is a radical transforming of soul AND BODY wherein the limits of human existence are re-created and freed to be without limit when it comes to our ultimate purpose: perfect loving relationship with God, others, the true self and all of creation. This is one of the reasons why the Gospels capture episode after episode of the Risen Jesus appearing in places despite locked rooms. In His Risen, glorified human manner of existing, there are no limits. And because finite and limited existence has been transformed gloriously, sin and death no longer have any power over human living. Humanity is free to love fully, selflessly and unconditionally. That is Good News!
3. “… He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him.” The words of the “angel of the Lord” recall Jesus’ own words at the Last Supper, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed’; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” (Matthew 26:31-32) With Supper finished, they went to the Mount of Olives and Jesus spoke these somber and hope-filled words. No doubt, Jesus’ quoting of the Prophet Zechariah caused distress. They knew the significance of the Old Testament shepherd imagery and more significantly, they knew Jesus to be the “Good Shepherd.” Talk of striking Him, the Shepherd, moved Peter to assert that his faith in Jesus yet it was not a faith that could withstand witnessing to Jesus in the hours to come. However, the somber predictions were not final as Jesus pronounced a word of hope: Galilee. Galilee? How is Galilee a word of hope? For the saintly Evangelist Matthew, Galilee is both the place and the occasion of encounter. It was in Galilee that the crowds encountered a Preacher and Teacher Who declared blessedness where there was none. It was in Galilee that the crowds encountered One-Who-spoke-parables to form a whole new way of living within and among humanity known as the Kingdom of God (also Kingdom of Heaven). It was in Galilee that the sick, blind, mute, etc … encountered the Divine Healer Who restored wholeness to broken and ailing humanity. It was in Galilee that hungry crowds encountered the Divine Host Who provided an abundance of food for soul and body. It was on the waters of Galilee that Jesus walked and beckoned Peter to do the same. It was in the waters of Galilee that Peter encountered the Saving Hand of Jesus Who pulled him to safety. It was in Galilee, atop a mountain, that Peter, James and John encountered a glimpse of the Glory of Jesus as Son of God in His Transfiguration. It was in Galilee that the crowds encountered Jesus as the New Moses who taught, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least, you did for Me.’ It was in Galilee that humanity encountered and came to know Jesus. It will be in Galilee that Jesus shows Himself Risen to a new way of life. Filled with that message, the Marys make haste to tell the disciples Jesus is Risen and to go to Galilee.
Yet again the question,
Galilee? The Marys and the other disciples are in Jerusalem. Galilee, at best, is a
3-day journey and, if the truth be told, most probably a 5-day journey on foot. True, Jesus appears to the women ‘on the way’ (an important Gospel phrase describing where a genuine disciple must be) and that certainly filled them with a wondrous joy. His action is one of grace, one of gift that strengthened and emboldened them to continue on the mission of proclaiming His Resurrection and directing the disciples to go to Galilee where they will now encounter Jesus a way transcending all previous encounters. They will, because of His gift to them, encounter Him Who IS Resurrection and Life.
What did the disciples experience on those days journeying from Jerusalem to Galilee? Scripture, admittedly, is silent. Yet in the prayerful communion of the Body of Christ, we might be drawn by the same Holy Spirit Who inspired the Sacred Evangelist to consider our own journey. Easter 2020 is a different one, and that is definitely an understatement of understatements. What an imperceptible grouping of cells called COVID-19 has done to the inhabitants of planet Earth will be etched in our minds and in our bodies for generations to come. Many lives have been changed in devastating ways and fear has taken hold of equally as many. Questions are seemingly infinite and definitive answers in very short supply with responses in a state of daily flux. Mourning the loss of loved ones, caring for sick family and friends, living physically distant from one another, unemployment, closed schools have all taxed the human spirit. Yet heroic actions of those who supply food and essential services, those who provide protection as first responders, those who render medical care and healing fill each day with a ray of hope.
For Christians, the added absence of our ways of encountering Jesus and growing in the ways of faith have changed drastically for the time being. On a night when we as Church celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Most Holy Eucharist for the Elect, that will have to wait. Our journey to Galilee will be a bit longer this year. It is as if we are living a very long Holy Saturday, a day of silence and bewilderment as expressed so well in an
ancient homily of the second-century. We know the Lord is Risen but the encounter – our Galilee – is delayed. We long to be gathered as the Body of Christ, the Church but cannot physically do so at the moment. We long to hear the ancient hymn proclaiming Easter, but cannot physically do so at the moment. We long to listen the record of Salvation’s History announced in the Sacred Word of God and proclaimed at the Easter Vigil, but we cannot physically do so at the moment. We long to participate in the joy of the Elect as they are reborn in the waters of Baptism, sealed with the Chrism of Salvation and fed by the real Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, but we cannot physically do so at the moment.
Like the Marys and the other disciples journeying to our Galilee this year, it is a time for reflection. Yes, in the ordinary experience of living as a disciple of Jesus, gathering physically to worship is an absolute. Physically partaking in the Sacramental life of Father, Son and Holy Spirit during the ordinary times of living are equally an absolute necessity. Physically being with others and assisting in concrete, tangible ways to meet the corporal and spiritual needs of all people is necessary for salvation. Yet these are not ordinary times. Much has been taken away, and reasonably so. Our distancing from one another is a way of serving and protecting one another. From a faith perspective as we are ‘on the way’ to Galilee, it is vital to ask how I have used the graces and gifts previously received to allow the depth of Jesus’ life to transform my heart to be in communion with Him. All is temporary, even the Sacraments. What is not temporary is the life-giving relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This relationship is the very being and purpose of our existence born of our encounter with the Person, Jesus. Perhaps during this elongated Holy Saturday, while we are ‘on the way’ to our Galilee, we can resolve to receive graciously all that is given to us a gift (especially the Sacraments), seize the opportunities when they occur (no procrastinating) and use them to respond to the Risen Savior Jesus permitting Him to form deeply within each of us His life that pulsates into eternity.
