FROM EMPTINESS TO FULLNESS

The uniqueness of our religion is the Incarnation of God in Christ – so for no religion has claimed to have a God who had taken a human form and shared the life of believers in every way. In the same way, the greatness of our religion is the Resurrection of Jesus which gives us a hope that all of us would rise again to eternal life – so for no religion has offered a hope for eternal life. If the divinity had embraced humanity with the Incarnation of Jesus, today with the resurrection of Jesus the fallen humanity has gained eternity. The incarnation revealed the eternal paternity of one God for all humans, today the resurrection restores the identity of humans as children of God who are heirs of one eternal Father. The death and resurrection of Jesus is a marriage of divinity with humanity for eternity. And so, the resurrection of Jesus is a real breakthrough in the history of humanity.

On this day of resurrection many questions are answered but many dreams are left questioned. On this day of resurrection many empty cups get filled up but many supposed filled cups get revealed as empty. On this day of resurrection many hopes become meaningful but many glories lose their meaning. Earlier, the ethics of Jesus toppled human ethics, today the resurrection of Jesus topples the world order. Yes, the resurrection of Jesus changes the human understanding of time as cyclic to linear. The resurrection of Jesus removes the cyclic burden of life and sets the humanity in motion towards eternal end. The Christianity spread so fast because it offered an escape from the recurring of this burned filled human life. The resurrection of Jesus proves that human life has only single course, no recurring. Having said this let us enter into the resurrection account in the Bible to see what did really happen on Easter Sunday.         

On Sunday morning, the first thing that announces the resurrection of Jesus is the empty tomb. The women come with the hope of anointing the body of Jesus but they find the tomb empty. Peter and other disciple run to see – see what? The empty tomb. For women the empty tomb causes an anxiety but for the disciples’ empty tomb causes the understanding of Who Jesus is. The angels appear to women and tell about risen Jesus but the disciples never encounter any angels because they already know about Jesus’ resurrection – for Jesus had taught them about His passion, death and resurrection. The disciples have some knowledge about Jesus’ rising but they could not comprehend fully what it means to be resurrected – for they never had any prior experience of dead rising to eternal life. Jesus is the first one to be resurrected. The cruel of death of Jesus on Good Friday perplexed the hopes of His disciples. The disciples were left to believe that the promises that Jesus was making has become empty, the hopes that they had on Him have become useless. They shut themselves in the room with fear and anxiety. They could do nothing other than raising unanswerable questions concerning Jesus to oneself or to one another. Their reasoning became empty, their faith became empty, their physical strength became empty and at last their hearts too became very empty. They were in a real emptiness. In this emptiness they encounter the empty tomb which sets their reasoning in motion, which revives their faith, which rejuvenates their physical strength and which fills their hearts with gladness. Their empty cups get filled up.

On the other side, the executioner of Jesus (religious authorities of Judaism and political leadership of Roman Empire) are becoming empty from their supposed fullness. The roman certificate that confirmed the death of Jesus on Good Friday losses its authenticity. The Jewish leadership that pushed to showcase the execution of Jesus to the public stands speechless in front of the same public. The Pontius Pilate who dreamed of gaining more power over Jews by hanging Jesus on the cross has lost his hope. The supposed filled cups are becoming empty! Despite these emptiness, the Pharisees invest money to circulate lie that contradicts the resurrection of Jesus. Surprisingly, it is that contradiction which better proves the resurrection of Jesus than the proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection could possibly do. The more they affirm His death, the better the resurrection becomes understood. If they were not to confirm His death, the resurrection of Jesus could have become a continuity of the earthly life of Jesus which awaits death one day in the near future. Their confirmation of Jesus’ death and their circulation of lie that the disciples have stolen the body of Jesus make the ordinary people to question the authenticity of Jewish leadership and the power of Roman Empire. Today they all lose their meaning and stand empty before their subjects. They stand convicted and naked!

The appearance of risen Jesus Himself is the second and definitive proof. The risen Jesus appears to the believers, but never to His executioners. It is reasonable to appear in front of the enemy to disprove his stand nevertheless it is wise to make the enemy restless by not appearing in front of him. The hearing of Jesus’ resurrection makes the executioners of Jesus restless. They await in fear of losing their power upon encountering Him face to face. Every time they hear of Jesus’ resurrection they realize their emptiness. Every time they insist on their execution of Jesus they fill the hearts of believers with gladness that their master Jesus was not just a man but a God became man, the logos. The emptiness gets filled up as the supposed fullness gets emptied. The life in risen Jesus is fullness. The risen Jesus gives us a hope that our life is not made for emptiness but for fullness in God. The present world questions: We can believe in the resurrection of Jesus as He was God became man, but how can we take that as a hope for our resurrection since we have not witnessed any single man being raised from the death? To them our reply would be: The resurrection is to gain life in heaven for eternity. The risen Jesus appeared to us – to show us materially – that there is life after death. Hence, hoping to see the resurrection of some dead persons here on earth reveals one’s improper understanding of the reality of the resurrection to life.

As we witness the empty tomb, let our hopes get filled up. Our life is not leading to emptiness (to abrupt end) but to fullness (to live forever). The risen Jesus offers fullness of life in death. In the incarnation of Christ, the fullness of God was in helpless babe, today in the resurrection of Jesus, the helpless man shares the fullness of life in God. May this fullness of risen Jesus make the dictators in our world to realize that their dreams and aspirations in the war are empty hopes. Let our empty wars stop and give way to the resurrection of life. Let this Easter make us move from emptiness to fullness

Happy Easter!
 

Comments