Easter Sunday Yr A 2026

Title

Seek Him So You Can Witness

Outline

The earthly life of Jesus differed from the resurrected Jesus

While we might call the this age life of Jesus hidden in that he did not make explicit claims, it was, from the time of John the Baptist on marked by the Holy Spirit and his power as Jesus fulled the prophecies of doing good, healing, and driving out the demonic. That the Synoptic Jesus did not make explicit claims but used terms that could be understood in more than one way was expected. Jewish documents of that day indicate that one should not claim to be Messiah before having done the work of the Messiah. The works were open to all to see.

With the resurrection Jesus no longer appears to and acts before everyone, “but to the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” The witnesses bear testimony directly or indirectly through their converts. Jesus, having a transformed body capable of existing in the presence of God, who he is, appears and speaks so as to train the witnesses, forming them to “seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” since “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” That is, our essential old life is dead at its fore as Jesus was totally dead in his body and the separation of his soul, and our real life is hidden in the presence of God although we are often less aware of it than of the body that is still dying awaiting transformation.

That is what we see in John’s gospel

Mary of Magdala came to the tomb seeking Jesus whom she thought was dead, and seeing it open ran to inform Peter and the Beloved Disciple, thinking the corpse had been removed. The two disciples race to the tomb. The first confirms the body was not there but does not get beyond Mary’s assumption. Peter, impulsive as always, rushes in and sees the strips of linen that had been wrapped around the body, stuck together by 100 lbs of sticky spices - think of a mummy - lying partially collapsed but not torn apart and the large handkerchief placed over the face which had not been wrapped with the linen, neatly rolled up and set to the side. He saw, as the Beloved Disciple did when he entered, that this was not the work of thieves or officials who had removed the body, but was like Lazarus except that Lazarus needed to be loosed and Jesus had passed through the burial cloths and presumably had removed the handkerchief and rolled it up, neatly making his bed, so to speak. They sought, they saw, they believed Jesus was risen, but did not realize that this fulfilled scriptural promises. Jesus will make sure they find out better by and by.

Now the story moves on to Mary who had also rushed back to the tomb and as the disciples leave, perhaps wondered where he had gone, she stays weeping, for she has not found Jesus, not even the grave where the body was so as to have contact with him. She is seeking and weeping for she does not understand and then, as we know, Jesus appears behind her and reveals himself to her seeking heart and she learned that while very physical to her grasp he cannot be held, except in her heart, for he now has his place (with a few brief exceptions) in the divine presence until the time he comes to judge the living and the dead. Mary will have to seek him there.

So what do we learn

Our calling is to bear witness to the risen Jesus in the tradition passed down to us and in our experience of him in our hidden real lives. We are to be seekers, pressing forward into the interior castle, and witnesses.

Arguments for the resurrection are only helpful to seekers who need problems that come between them and what they want to believe removed.

Our witness grows as we seek, in part as we understand the scriptures more and more and realize what Jesus finished, but especially as we seek him and find him, not in our dying world, but in our lives that are already hidden above and about which we learn more and more.