DO YOU LOVE ME?
This Easter Sunday we are commemorating
and most importantly sharing in the greatest event in the entire history of the world. It is our celebration of the risen and resurrected
Christ, a phenomenon that occurred over two thousand years ago. This single miracle represents the very foundation
of our faith for without it there would be no belief in Jesus Christ, no belief in
salvation, and therefore no belief in our own resurrection from the dead. 1Corinthians
15:14 teaches, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain and your faith
is also in vain”. For with His
resurrection, He opened the door to our salvation and made it possible for all to enter
His Father’s kingdom.
The events preceding the crucifixion show the cruelty and absurdity of men,
their arrogance and pride, their unbending egos, the blindness to truth, jealousy and the
injustice imposed upon Christ. In spite of what man sought to do, Christ is still the
living affirmation of what we believe and the fact of the risen Jesus has prospered
without dispute throughout these centuries. For
when the tomb was opened on that third day following the agony and death of our Lord, its
emptiness was a strong testimonial and gave credence that Jesus is eternally alive and
lives in glory just as He promised. All that He said came to pass, a confirmation
signifying the reality of His teachings and His love.
The center of this celebration is not the
crucified Christ, the suffering or the agony He endured at the hands of those who would
not accept or believe in Him. It is in the
resurrection; foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament. It is the culmination of all
Jesus told us would happen. Without this monumental event there would be no eternal life. But we Christians who love the Lord will always
feel sorrow when we visualize the clanging of the hammer that nailed our beloved Jesus to
the cross. These things will echo in our hearts forever, reminding us of the price He paid
for our salvation.
We cannot, however, smugly place total blame on those who condemned and
crucified Jesus without looking within ourselves to see if we are continuing to sin or
turning our backs on what we know is wrong in the sight of God. If we sin without asking for forgiveness, we are
no better than the Pharisees, the high priests, the Roman Centurions, or Pilate who were
among the central cast in nailing Him to the cross so many years ago. Therefore the joyous celebration of the risen
Christ is a wake-up call to take up our crosses and follow in His footsteps with the
confidence He inspires in us as Christians. With
Him leading and giving us strength we become shareholders in the kingdom of Heaven.
Because of Jesus this is now possible and within reach.
With this resurrection He is telling us, “Salvation can be yours. Claim it!”
On Easter We Christians relive this Divine revelation. We believe in it. The emptiness of that tomb, the
eyewitness accounts and the many other happenings speak loudly to our souls and continue
to be at the foundation of our faith. Feeble arguments woven around the authenticity of
Jesus rising from the dead have been reduced to rubble and the truth of it remains
impossible to defeat. Learned men
throughout the ages have tried to break this belief with no success and skepticism
sometimes has been replaced with humble faith.
We have so much to be eternally thankful for on this joyous occasion. Christian Catholics know it is not about dressing
up in beautiful Easter clothes to show off at Mass or eating a great holiday feast. These things are wonderful but secondary. What is important is the glorious realization that
all Jesus taught was true; Easter is a heavenly promise to us of our own resurrection to
eternal life. When Jesus died, all our sins
died with Him. Christ rose from the dead in
exultation as we Christians will also be raised up when He returns to claim us.
All of us, although made in God’s image fall short of what we should
be. We must not let that deter us for this
is why Jesus paid the price by dying for us. Even
St. Peter whom Jesus loved had his moment of sinful mortality by denying Jesus in the
courtyard of Caiaphas the high priest as Jesus was tried for crimes He did not commit. But
St. Peter’s denial of the Savior was forgiven at the cross. His sin price was paid and he went forth to gain
many souls for Jesus.
Christ prophesied in these words to St. Peter found in Matt: 16:18: “And I say to you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven.” (the name Peter or “Petros” means rock). Then in John 21:15 after His resurrection,
Jesus asked: “Simon Peter, son of Jonah, do you love me?” to which Peter
replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” Christ said to him “Feed my
lambs.” And He said to him a second
time, “Simon Peter, son of Jonah, do you love me?” And once again St. Peter
replied, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love you” and Jesus said, “Tend my
sheep”. Then He questioned him a third
time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” And Peter said again “Lord,
you know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.”
And so, the sacrifice of the crucifixion and the triumphant
resurrection continues to live. It is stamped
‘valid’ for all the ages. Like the
disciple St. Peter we too have our work to do to keep this wondrous miracle alive until
Jesus comes. If we love Him as we say we do
we will share the good news of Easter with all God’s people. When we pray saying,
“Yes, Lord, I love you” we must be willing to obey when we hear Him reply
“Feed my sheep”.
Happy Resurrection, everyone!!