The tomb is empty. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (Hos. 13:14). Life is a rhythm of sowing and harvest. But the empty tomb reminds us that so much of what the world wants us to sow will never be reaped in the tomb. This is the emptiness of the tomb. All of our worldly riches abandon us when death comes, as the disciples abandoned Christ. Our Lord taught, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” (Mt. 16:19). For the tomb is empty of all these treasures. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Mt. 16:20). And so our Lord made himself rich with the treasures of the spirit — the endless resource of love: “For where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” (Mt. 16:21). The treasure of the spirit cannot be hoarded, because it is love — and unless it is also freely given away in extravagant abundance, it’s only some vain affection, emotion, or sentiment that is only felt in oneself, not love. This is the sense in which Jesus, who was in “the [form, likeness, or image] of God” (Php. 2:6) — that is, Love (1 Jn. 4:16) — “emptied himself” (Php. 2:7). This is why the tomb was empty: Jesus himself was empty, having poured out on the world the spiritual treasury of love, and the grave had no hold on him. Jesus said that the bread which he would give for the life of the world is his flesh (Jn. 6:51), which came down from heaven. He did not mean that his flesh was from heaven, as if he were some angelic phantom descending from the heights, as the Docetists believed. Rather, the Holy Spirit speaking through him was declaring the mystery of the resurrection: that the man who lives a spiritual life is a spiritual man, and his natural body has been transformed into a spiritual body (Php. 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:44). That is, his body has become the body and temple of the Holy Spirit, as Christ himself is. Do not let the eyes of the flesh deceive you about this, but let the eyes of faith see it. There is nothing natural whatsoever about a body like this — it is, in truth, wholly spiritual. Therefore the flesh with which he feeds the masses is wholly spiritual, and the one who feeds on it is wholly nourished by the Spirit. The mystery of Resurrection is the same as that of the Transfiguration, where the Lord revealed his glory to his disciples, and the risen Moses and Elijah appeared beside him. All who sow into the Spirit are thus transfigured, risen; the grave has no place for such a person, and such a person has no place in oneself for the grave. This is why St. Paul speaks of the perishable and mortal putting on the clothing of imperishability and immortality (1 Cor. 15:54). All pertaining to this life of the flesh is a perishable clothing which we may put off at will; its glory is illusory. An emperor arrayed in such splendor in fact has no clothes. The tomb lays him bare. But the servant who empties himself of such vainglory and pours himself out in love has died to the world, and put on the immortal garments of God, who reveals himself in love. If one is living the life of God-who-is-Love, death has neither sting for, nor victory over, such a person. The resurrection which we celebrate today is not only that of Christ, two millennia ago. Enfolded within it is the revelation of our own resurrection: how we too may lay aside the worldly life and rise up into spiritual life, putting on the clothing of the immortal Word of eternal life, which descended from heaven and by whom we are “born from above” (Jn. 3:3). This is the mystery of the resurrection which Jesus revealed to his saints. “The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (Jn. 6:63). The tomb is empty. So is the world. Christ is risen; he has plundered the grave and overcome the world, redeeming it. Let us follow the words of his voice as he goes before us into the redemption of his glorious resurrection. Hallelujah!
Song Meditation: “The Tomb is Empty”
The tomb is empty |
All Hail King Jesus Christ, by Seán McMahon Seán McMahon |
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Hymns and Homilies, by Seán McMahon Seán McMahon |
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