Communion With the Christ:: Easter: "I Have Seen the Lord"

"I Have Seen the Lord" Jhn:20:18

The Resurrection of Jesus is the central event in all human history Without the Resurrection all that ever has or will be has no real meaning. All that went before or ever will follow only has merit or value due to the truth that Jesus Christ has come again from the grave. Without the Resurrection of Jesus all human existence is meaningless.

The Apostle St. Paul address the futility of life without the fact of the Resurrection of Jesus, especially, to those who believe and call themselves Christians.

"and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” 1Cor: 15:14-17

This tells us, that If Jesus have not indeed risen from the dead then all of life, all of human existence is meaningless. Having only death and extinction ultimately to look forward to both individually and as a race.

Wittiness of the Resurrection

Some might ask "how do we know that Jesus is Resurrected?" The answer is, there are witnesses of the truth of the Resurrected Jesus. The whole Gospel message is an eye witness account and testimony throughout history of those who have encountered Jesus outside of the tomb, that is, those who know that Jesus lives outside of the bounds of death, which means, Jesus was, by God the Father brought forth from the tomb to triumph over the last and greatest enemy of us all which is death.

…"As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: 'I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.' "Therefore He also says in another Psalm, 'YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.'"Acts:13:34-35

"Mary"

These witnesses of the Resurrected Jesus throughout history are like Mary, who, while at the tomb of Jesus found that Jesus is no longer there. Mary was perplexed and uncertain as to what has taken place, yet at that moment of grief she encounters the Resurrected Jesus, though not recognizing that it is Jesus himself.

"Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” . Jhn:11-15

There, outside of the tomb in which the lifeless body of Jesus had been laid , outside of the bounds of death Mary encounters the Resurrected Jesus. In her uncertainty even as she does not recognize Jesus, he whispers her name; and it is as if the veil was lifted from Mary's eyes and she sees the living Lord and Savior Jesus.

"Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).(16)

"I Have Seen the Lord"

Jesus then gives to Mary ,what is in truth the very truth and commission delivered to all Christians; to go and tell the others, in this case, Jesus' own disciples , that Jesus lives.

" Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her."(17-18)

Mary takes the truth that Jesus is Resurrected to the disciples. Mary knows the truth that Jesus lives and she tells them "I have seen the Lord". She shares the truth that Jesus is Resurrected, that Jesus has triumphed over death and grave. Mary has "Seen the Lord".

"They Saw the Lord"

Even as the disciples are at first skeptical it is Jesus himself who dispels all doubt that he is Resurrected. Jesus appears to the disciples as they fearfully gather together behind locked doors.

"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." (19-20)

This is the heart of the Gospel message, to they, and to we, and all people; to hear that Jesus is Resurrected, that we "have seen the Lord".

They had seen Jesus outside the tomb and bounds of death, we know that Jesus lives. We have heard Jesus call our name's as we stood peering into the empty tomb. We know that he lives and it is our commission to tell any and all that we "have seen the Lord"

Declared the Son of God

The power and work of the cross has been vindicated and validated by the Resurrection, for without the Resurrection of Jesus the cross is meaningless, Jesus would have been just another martyr who died for a cause.

The Resurrection confirms the truth that Jesus is the very Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, this truth was central to St. Paul’s message which he proclaimed, that through the death of the Son of God upon the cross sin has been dealt with and his Resurrection confirms the power of the cross.

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord."Rm:1:1-4

St. Paul

How did St. Paul know that Jesus was Resurrected, he was not among the Disciples when Jesus came to them and showed they his hands and feet, telling them to be at peace?

St. Paul had his own encounter with Jesus, that is he "saw the Lord" on the road to Damascus, that is, St. Paul met Jesus outside of the bound of death.

"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,"Acts:9:1-5a

St. Paul, the great persecutor of the Christians who are witness of the truth that Jesus is Resurrected, now himself had come to be a wittiness of the Resurrection himself and powerfully proclaims that he has "seen the Lord" to the ranker of the Jews whom he once held fellowship with.

"Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah."

"After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus." (20-27)

Now , St. Paul shares with the word that he has "seen the Lord". This message of the Resurrected Jesus, this Gospel even brought St. Paul before the courts of the Empire.

Festus a Roman official who informed King Agrippa of the case against St. Paul , and the crux of the case; and St. Paul’s message which he attested to was the Gospel assertion that Jesus is alive that St. Paul had himself encounters the living Jesus.

"When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive" Acts:25:18-19

Many Witnesses

The eye witnesses of the Resurrected Jesus is not limited to just a few persons. St. Paul cited that many in the Apostolic Church could rightly claim to have seen the Resurrected Jesus.

St. Paul writing to the Church at Corinth Greece, and to Christians down through the ages of this truth that Jesus was seen by St. Peter, and the other Apostles and to five-hundred others and lastly by St. Paul himself.

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born." 1Cor:15:3-8

All these persons saw Jesus and knew that Jesus lives and many of them went to their deaths proclaiming this truth. If Jesus was not seen by them, why would they choose to suffer so great a price, if it was lie what would have been gained, for men do not die for a lie but for truth.

Christians Have Seen the Lord

Through the witness of the Scripture and the proclamation of the Gospel message we are like Mary who had arrived at the tomb early that Easter Sunday morning and have found it empty. Jesus is there, maybe unrecognized at first by us until he whispers our name, and then we too come to see that Jesus is outside the tomb, outside the bounds of death, we come to know that he is Resurrected.

Filled with this truth we too become witnesses of the Resurrection, and like Mary we are commissioned go and tell others that we too have encountered Jesus outside of the tomb. We carry the Gospel of a living Jesus.

Easter is a yearly reminder that it is the commission of all Christians to go forth and tell the world, as did Mary and the Apostolic Church, that "I Have Seen the Lord" .

Benediction: May we each and all declare that we "have seen the Lord" today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.