Hey All,
Here is my reflection on Gospel verses for Easter Monday. It again isn't really scholarly - just personal.
The expanded text is on my site here: Daily Bible Verses Easter/Pentecost | Monday Week 1 | Jesus Meets Mary and Mary | Chief Priests Bribe The Soldiers To Lie – Listen To the Bible! | King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version
This is the original meditation. It goes like this:
In Matthew’s Gospel, the truth of Christ’s victory over death is told in an apocalyptic language, laden with symbolic meaning. There is a great earthquake, the angel descends from heaven to roll back the stone of Christ’s tomb, his appearance like lightning, his clothing white as snow. The guards are terrified, becoming like dead men, and the angel announces to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, mother of James, that Christ is risen, that they must go and share the good news with Jesus’ disciples.
The women respond to the angel’s news with fear and joy. They are amazed by what is happening, and they respond with faith. They run to share the good news of Christ’s resurrection. Through belief, they are eager to tell the disciples about Jesus.
It is now that Jesus appears to the women, showing himself to them first, their reward for their faith and constancy. They recognize Jesus instantly and fall on their knees to worship him, taking hold of his feet. Jesus’ now is a glorified body. He is not bound to a particular place or time. He is freed from such limitations. We may look to Jesus’ glorious body with keen anticipation of our life to come. Yet Jesus is also physically tangible to the women. His presence can be physically touched. Now their joy is complete. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of James, are chosen by Jesus to go to tell the disciples where they will meet him. They become the first messengers of the good news.
The reaction of the chief priests and the elders of Jerusalem is to propagate a lie in order to try to ensure that the truth of Christ’s resurrection may not be known by the Jewish people. They must know that this is a lie, and so the evil of their actions is compounded further, as it is also by the bribery they must use to secure the soldiers’ complicity. It is saddening to hear of how the Jewish people were kept from the truth of Jesus. The lie spreads, and it is with us to this day on the lips of those who deny Christ.
We are warned by the account of the chief priests’ actions to be alert to those forces in our time which seek to deny Christ. We are asked to respond to the good news of Jesus’ resurrection which such unbounded freedom of faith as Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of James, show when they meet Jesus and then rush to tell the disciples what has truly happened. We are asked to share with the people we know the truth of Christ.
‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, but he was not a sheep; he was as a lamb without voice, but he was not a lamb. The figure has passed away, the reality has come: it is God who has come in place of the lamb, man in place of the sheep, and in the man is Christ, who contains all things.’ Melito of Sardis
Here is my reflection on Gospel verses for Easter Monday. It again isn't really scholarly - just personal.
The expanded text is on my site here: Daily Bible Verses Easter/Pentecost | Monday Week 1 | Jesus Meets Mary and Mary | Chief Priests Bribe The Soldiers To Lie – Listen To the Bible! | King James Audio Bible | KJV | King James Version
This is the original meditation. It goes like this:
In Matthew’s Gospel, the truth of Christ’s victory over death is told in an apocalyptic language, laden with symbolic meaning. There is a great earthquake, the angel descends from heaven to roll back the stone of Christ’s tomb, his appearance like lightning, his clothing white as snow. The guards are terrified, becoming like dead men, and the angel announces to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, mother of James, that Christ is risen, that they must go and share the good news with Jesus’ disciples.
The women respond to the angel’s news with fear and joy. They are amazed by what is happening, and they respond with faith. They run to share the good news of Christ’s resurrection. Through belief, they are eager to tell the disciples about Jesus.
It is now that Jesus appears to the women, showing himself to them first, their reward for their faith and constancy. They recognize Jesus instantly and fall on their knees to worship him, taking hold of his feet. Jesus’ now is a glorified body. He is not bound to a particular place or time. He is freed from such limitations. We may look to Jesus’ glorious body with keen anticipation of our life to come. Yet Jesus is also physically tangible to the women. His presence can be physically touched. Now their joy is complete. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of James, are chosen by Jesus to go to tell the disciples where they will meet him. They become the first messengers of the good news.
The reaction of the chief priests and the elders of Jerusalem is to propagate a lie in order to try to ensure that the truth of Christ’s resurrection may not be known by the Jewish people. They must know that this is a lie, and so the evil of their actions is compounded further, as it is also by the bribery they must use to secure the soldiers’ complicity. It is saddening to hear of how the Jewish people were kept from the truth of Jesus. The lie spreads, and it is with us to this day on the lips of those who deny Christ.
We are warned by the account of the chief priests’ actions to be alert to those forces in our time which seek to deny Christ. We are asked to respond to the good news of Jesus’ resurrection which such unbounded freedom of faith as Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of James, show when they meet Jesus and then rush to tell the disciples what has truly happened. We are asked to share with the people we know the truth of Christ.
‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, but he was not a sheep; he was as a lamb without voice, but he was not a lamb. The figure has passed away, the reality has come: it is God who has come in place of the lamb, man in place of the sheep, and in the man is Christ, who contains all things.’ Melito of Sardis