INSIDE THE TOMB AND IN THE DARK

Easter Vigil
Mk 16:1-7

If you were given divine revelation that your departed loved one would come back to life tomorrow, would you stay up all night and eagerly wait for the appearance of your departed loved one from the grave? Would you hurry to your departed loved one’s tomb early tomorrow, even when it will still be dark, to be the first one to see and welcome your resuscitated beloved? I do not think so. I suppose, you would rather stay home, shudder even by the thought of the dead coming back from the grave, and hide your self underneath a pile of blanket when you go to bed tonight. You would not want to have a date with a zombie. No matter how much you loved your departed in life, you would never want to see your dearly departed in death.

But Jesus was not resuscitated. He resurrected. He is not a ghost. He is flesh and blood. He is not a zombie. He is risen into a radically new life that will never qualify for a horror story. That is the reason why we are excited to meet Him from the grave. That is the reason why we stay up all night and welcome Him as soon as the first streaks of light cut across the sky. Darkness has become brightness by His resurrection. Jesus is making another miracle. The miracle is Jesus Himself. And we are all excited to behold Him risen!

It is interesting to reflect on the fact that Easter begins inside the tomb, not outside it. It is the Resurrection that opened the tomb. Easter starts in the dark, not in the light. The Resurrection is the light that conquers darkness. I heard it said that the world is at its darkest just when the first streaks of light cut across the sky.

Our tomb may be our place of rising and in our darkness may be the beginning of another day.