“Respond – To The Empty Tomb”
©2012 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today let us continue our quest to RESPOND this week. Was Jesus not so powerful or as impressive in human form as many had hoped the Savior to be? Did His humanity change how the average person may see an all-powerful God? How powerful was the first sight of that empty tomb to John? If Jesus personally told you, He’d raise from the dead three days after His death; what would solidify that statement? Maybe an empty tomb might do it? How might you RESPOND? I think this is what every Catholic and every believer in Jesus needs to see. His word is no longer questioned and what He can and can’t do is no longer questioned. The empty tomb proves that not even death could hold Him; and the He speaks only truth.
Today we find the gospel in John 20:1a, 2-8 (The Empty Tomb). No greater confirmation of our faith than to see the tomb of our Savior empty, knowing that what He said is what He meant. Are our eyes focused on seeing Him? Do we see how His resurrection became the most significant part of our faith and how to this day, His resurrection is still talked about? Without it maybe we may have never heard of Jesus.
What does it take for you to RESPOND? Do you need to personally see the empty tomb? Can you remain strong in what you believe in; from reading about what the disciple John saw? I wonder how the gospels identify how the empty tomb of Jesus was discovered and made know it was empty.
In Matthew's Gospel: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were told by the angel standing outside the tomb that Jesus was risen. They did not actually look to see if the tomb was really empty, but departed quickly, to tell the disciples.
In The Gospel of Mark: Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Salome found the stone had been moved from the sepulcher and in going in, found Jesus was gone and a young man there to tell them that Jesus was risen.
In Luke's Gospel, the women who came from Galilee, Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, Johanna and other women found the stone had been moved from the sepulcher and going in, they found Jesus was gone and two men in shining garments there. The two men told the women that Jesus was risen, and they went and told the disciples, who did not believe them.
In The Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene found the stone moved, but it was still dark and she did not go in the sepulcher. She ran and told Peter and the 'disciple whom Jesus loved'. They ran to the tomb and it was the 'disciple whom Jesus loved' who arrived first (John) and looking in, saw that the tomb was empty. Peter arrived and they both went into the tomb and saw two angels.
“Jesus, I Trust in You.”
Your Brother in Christ Jesus
and His Most Precious Mother Mary,
Jimmy (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
