THE LIVING, LOVING GOD OF EASTER
What happened after Jesus died? I heard a joke by someone saying that on Good Friday, as Jesus dies on the cross, it’s the best time to commit sin because God is not watching! But was Jesus inert and passive after his death on the cross? Remember our creed does not say: he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, period!
It continues: he descended into “hell”, on the third day he rose again! Even after death, Jesus was in constant movement, unseen by human beings but truly active until he physically rose again from the dead.
So today, as we welcome Jesus rising from the dead, we know him again in a new way. On Palm Sunday, he is King. On Holy Thursday, He is Servant. On Good Friday, He is the Good God. On this Easter night, He is the Living and Active God! Even death could not hold him still and restrict him in darkness…
Let us dwell on this “descent into hell”. What does it mean? First, let us not think of this hell as the hell of eternal damnation, with fires engulfing those punished for their stubbornness of heart. There’s another idea from the Jews. The Jews believed in a place where dead people go and for them this is hell or Hades. In Hades the dead await final salvation.
But Hades is not a pleasant place. It is a place of isolation. The souls go there but they are separated from each other because they do not communicate with each other. They also cannot communicate with God because praise and adoration are impossible in Hades. It is “hell” when people are dead because physically, we exist separately and far from our loved ones. It is “hell” also when people are dead spiritually because we cannot communicate with each other.
It is hell when couples do not converse. It is hell when former friends avoid each other. It is hell when we see people but close our eyes and purse our lips. It is hell when we would rather interact to “textmates” than to seatmates. It is hell when we would rather chat with “friends” on facebook than have meaningful talk with people living around us. In our time, hell is when we prefer communication with gadgets than with people.
Jesus went into the place where there was no communication, where there was only isolation, loneliness and aloneness. And there, Jesus opened up a communication where it was before impossible. He visited them to tell them that God loves them, that they were invited to the Father’s banquet, that they were being prepared to enter the gates of heaven now opened because of his Passion and Death on the Cross.
So after he died, Jesus visited those who died before him extending to them an embrace of love.
But how did Jesus go to the place of the dead? He had power to go there because he was the Son of God. But did he go there in power and pomp? In regal stature and proud gait? No, Jesus went to them as one like them – as dead, as one plunged into the darkness of the grave. In other words, he shared their very situation too.
Remember on the cross, Jesus was also isolated. His disciples abandoned him. He could not hold his Mother’s hands. He could no longer preach to the crowds. He was alone. Even his prayer showed he was alone: My God, my God, why have you abandoned Me? Jesus truly experienced the place of the dead – unable to communicate with God and men.
Jesus in suffering death embraced the experience of people who died and who people who are dying. He had nothing to prove to them. He was just content to be like them.
I remember a friend who got sick. He was so active in his work but he was soon diagnosed with a deadly disease. Worse, he had no family to return to so he lives in a place for abandoned people. His friends, for one reason or another, find themselves unable to visit and console him. I am very busy. It is too far. I have no time. Later, but not today. Some do not even return his text messages.
Imagine this pain of isolation. When you need others most, they are nowhere to be found. They are so far. You are alive but you seem to be forgotten already – you seem dead.
I too had this idea that I want to visit later, not now, because I am always a busy person. But one day, pierced in my conscience, I decided to visit this friend and what joy I saw on his face. He was laughing and giggling. He was so happy to be re-connected with loved ones.
I did not come to heal him. Only God can do that. I did not come to give him money or medicines. I couldn’t afford them. I just came as I am, a friend. And here he was, full of joy.
That is what Jesus did after his death on the cross. His spirit was not resting but was moving about to continue sharing the Father’s love. And then when he rose from the dead, his energy burst forth to share this greatest love to the whole waiting world.
Maybe, some of us are thinking: We are still dead. We still have problems and anxieties. We are still not reconciled. And nobody seems to understand. On this Easter night, Jesus reminds us how much we are loved. He joins us in our death to bring new life and energy to our bodies and spirits. We are never alone. We will never be alone!
But because Jesus joins us in our own death and shares with us his new life, can we also go out of our way and understand others in their pain and by our presence or remembrance, breathe life into their situation of difficulty and pain?
The Risen Jesus, the Living and Loving God, gives us power to become also living and loving to the people around us, the people who need us most.
Jesus, thank you for loving me and for not hesitating to reach out to me where I am most dead. For I experience death many times, Lord. But today I feel most ardently your presence. You come to me and communicate to me the love of the Father and the Spirit. You come to join me and energize me by your gift of friendship. Jesus, just as you have risen from the dead, I too will rise from my death. And like you, I too, will visit and give life to those who need me most. I will share your Easter joy with others. Thank you, Jesus. I praise and glorify you forevermore!
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