Easter Sunday (Cycle B) – April 4, 2021 The Empty Tomb: The absence of a body and the presence of a new hope Acts 10: 34, 37-43 / Psalm 118 / Colossians 3: 1-4 / John 20: 1-9
I have always been struck by the first words uttered about Jesus after his death, after he had been laid in the tomb. They are spoken by Mary Magdalene in today’s reading from the Gospel according to John: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”
After all they had been through and the dreams and hopes that Jesus had instilled in the hearts which seemed to have come to a crashing end, all they had was the dead body of Jesus. It was that important. Now, it appears, even his body has gone away.
For the Magdalene and the other disciples, it probably at first felt like they were robbed in a most cruel fashion. In the dark of that early Easter morning, “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” Still, Mary Magdalene intuits what is an important truth: the focus is not just on physical remains, but on the Lord. His body was and is essential to his being. His body is no longer there, so he is not fully present.
In that moment all they had was the absence of the Lord Jesus. Nothing was there to provide for the former physical presence of Jesus. Still, not all was lost, for the absence of physical remains of Jesus made them remember and follow him all the more.
The body of Jesus was gone and no longer in the tomb for a reason: Resurrection. He teaches us by example that the body is not discarded but has an integral purpose with our being. It is not that they later find the body of the Lord, but that they see the Risen Jesus Christ, in the flesh and the spirit, glorified but also very real.
The body of the Risen Lord makes him visible and fully perceived and experienced. His resurrection is the union of his body and soul, his humanity and divinity. He shows us that Resurrection is both a destiny and life, being and living.
In our struggle to understand the Resurrection and the significance such a glorious experience has to do with us, first reflect on the obvious. It is clear as the Risen Lord appears to the disciples, not as a ghost but as the real Jesus, there is a reason his body no longer remained in the tomb.
We no longer have his body, there are no remains of Jesus nor is his sepulcher like other tombs. Physical remains of him were not and are not necessary. The physical reminders and legacies of the Lord Jesus are many, but unlike any others.
We have his Body and Blood with us as a living reminder and real presence of the Lord Jesus. A real presence, yes, but also real food and real drink. We have his body on earth in the Church, the body of believers. We have his body in us, in our very selves, because we have his Spirit in us, his love. St. Theresa of Avila’s prayer starts to take shape in our minds and lives, “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth, but yours….”
Christ ended his earthly sojourn, but he remains among us. The tomb was empty so he might bring his mission on earth to fulfillment and continue on to his way to the Father and so that he would continue among us in new and lasting ways.
The tomb was empty because he longer was meant to remain there, but wished to find a dwelling in our hearts, in our church and in heaven.