He Is Alive!

“Don’t seek the Living among the dead. He is alive!”, said the angel to the women who went to the tomb to anoint the body of their beloved Lord.
And yet, Jesus was dead, really dead. His death was not an appearance, a simulation of death. It was a true death, just like the death of any mortal being. Many people, who followed him from the palace of the governor to the hill of Golgotha, had witnessed his death on the cross, after horrible, indescribable suffering. The soldiers, on their side, had certified that he was really dead, and reported it to the governor.

Jesus, Son of God, chose freely the death. He would not be a perfect man if he had refused the death. He chose the death because it was the only way to prove that he wanted to share entirely, in full, in our fate and nature. And when he gave up his ghost, he said: “All is finished”. He had achieved until the last point the plan of his Father, the plan of salvation decided for eternity.

Jesus welcomed the death also for another reason: he wanted to show us that death, while being a punishment, is not the supreme, irreparable disaster. He died in order to teach us that death is the last and necessary journey of our life, and the only way to get the endless, the everlasting life.

We, as Christians, recognize that physical death is not the worst thing that can occur to us; even if we consider the horrible faces of death, while looking daily to the victims of war, of terrorism, of natural disasters, of abortion or suicides, and yet, the myriad of people dying  from hunger, illness and other misfortunes.

But there is worse; there are the moral crimes, the murder of souls, through the scandalous behavior of many, the harm caused by moral abuses, the immoral press and entertainment,  the domination of money and power, the oppression of the weak and the poor in many parts of the earth. Certainly, these are the extreme manifestations of evil in the world.

For that Jesus taught us to be afraid, not from the death of the body, but from that of the soul. And he himself lived and died according to this teaching, accepting his personal death, not only because it was the will of his Father, but also as the exclusive way to the true life.

The Resurrection of Jesus has been the confirmation and crowning of his words. He did not remain a long time under the power of death. Three days in the tomb were necessary but enough to achieve and confirm his prediction, founded on the words of the prophets: “The Messiah must suffer much, he will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life” (Mt 16, 21). It was not a vague desire, neither a human pretension,  it was a certitude, following from the word of God himself.

The Resurrection of Christ is our resurrection. His victory on evil and sin must be our victory. The hope of our eternal life and happiness has its fundament in the words of Jesus saying: “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Who believes in me will never die”. He encouraged his disciples and us as well, to persevere in the fight for faith, because who trusts in him will not fail. Instead he said “Don’t be afraid, I will be with you until the end of the world”.

Beloved brothers and sisters let me tell you, in this glorious feast of resurrection, that God’s love is stronger than death. Let us fill our hearts and our spirits with the sound conviction that our life is not an absurd existence, neither our death an unjust punishment. Life and death are the gifts of God, and they must serve to acknowledge the love and the goodness of God towards us, and to prove our own love and gratitude toward God.

The Resurrection is the feast of joy and hope. Let us welcome it with joyful songs and prayers and greet one another by the triumphant cry of angel, echoed by the apostles: “The Lord is risen! “

Yes. “Truly he is risen!” Alleluia!

+ Manuel Batakian, Armenian Catholic Eparch.