Today, Easter Sunday, we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. We mark the day when the Lord Jesus came forth from the tomb. The forces of evil that condemned him to death, nailed him to a cross, watched his life drain away, and then secured his body in a tomb did not have the last word. The Lord Jesus conquered the power of sin and rose from the darkness of death.
The Resurrection not only brought Jesus to life, but it raised his disciples from the doubt and despair that came upon them that first Good Friday. How could they doubt the One who was now risen and standing before them? They were certain that Jesus was Lord and God.
As we see in our First Reading (Acts 10:34a, 37-43), moved by the Spirit they went forth to proclaim that Good News. The words and teaching of Jesus were confirmed by his Resurrection.
The Lord’s Resurrection changed those first disciples, and it continues to transform believers down to this very day. We believe that the Risen Lord speaks to us in the scriptures, touches us in the Sacraments, and remains with us through the Church. In a relationship with him we find the meaning, purpose, and value of our lives, and we recognize others as fellow children of God.
That first Easter Sunday transformed our understanding of life. We see that death is not an ending but an invitation to an eternal relationship with God. The Resurrection of Jesus gives us hope and it proclaims that the Risen Lord is with us. We might say it allows the Incarnation to continue, and it gives us a joyous reason to sing, Alleluia!
But rather than joining in that Easter hymn, many people today seem to be doing all they can to push the Risen Lord back into the tomb, to seal it up tight, and to make sure Easter’s message of hope and new life stays locked inside.
They claim that Jesus is only another religious teacher, dismiss the Gospel as a pious myth, and consider the report of his resurrection as wishful thinking or at best a metaphor for change. They pressure Christians to keep their faith in Jesus a private matter. They use social media to promote behavior and values that contradict those preached by Jesus and found in the Gospel. They promote the idea that every individual determines what is true and good for themselves and deny that Jesus is the embodiment of truth and goodness. They judge the words of Jesus about repentance, forgiveness and eternal salvation as meaningless since they consider sin a medieval concept and see death as obliteration.
Such people try to keep Jesus locked in the darkness of the tomb. They do not want him challenging their view of life, confronting their behavior, summoning them to accept him as Savior and Lord, and proclaiming that true fulfillment in life is found in loving him and their neighbor. The more people succeed in pushing the Risen Lord back into the tomb, the more it seems our society falls into the darkness of evil, immorality, hopelessness, addiction, and despair.
This Easter Sunday we are once again reminded that the more we allow the Risen Lord into our lives and into our society, the more life is changed for the better. As Jesus told us, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
© 2025 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski
May you deeply experience the Peace and Presence of the Risen Lord
during this Easter Season!