No One Expects the Resurrection!

Apr 9: The Resurrection of the Lord The Mass of Easter Day

Apr 09, 2023

Jesus doesn’t always do what we’re expecting. Which makes sense, considering how much last night’s readings emphasized how much higher God’s wisdom is than our own.

Speaking of wisdom, don’t let anyone tell you that “Easter” is secretly a Christianized version of the celebration of Ishtar—

Reading 1

Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

People forget that there was no real good reason for the Apostles to make up the Resurrection.1

And it’s not just that they would’ve suffered at the hands of both the Jews (Paul, specifically) and the Romans; it’s that this wasn’t a convincing argument for anyone of the time.

We sort of take Jesus’ Resurrection as a given, but that wasn’t true in the first century. In his book The Resurrection of the Son of God, N. T. Wright writes, “No second-Temple Jewish texts speak of the Messiah being raised from the dead. Nobody would have thought of saying, ‘I believe that so-and-so really was the Messiah; therefore he must have been raised from the dead.’” And further, “Christianity was born into a world where its central claim was known to be false. Many believed that the dead were non-existent; outside Judaism, nobody believed in resurrection.”

In other words, while the Resurrection is the defining belief of Christianity, the fact that nobody was looking for a resurrected messiah is exactly why this is the defining relief. Jesus did something no one was expecting.

Share The Amateur Theologian

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.”
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.

Neither the Pharisees nor the Sanhedrin, much less Pontius Pilate, were expecting to participate in God’s plan of salvation. They believed (or feared, in the Romans’ case) a Jewish Messiah would be a military leader. They rejected Jesus the cornerstone, because he was outside of their worldly understanding.

And they absolutely did not expect him to rise again from the dead.

Reading 2

Col 3:1-4

Brothers and sisters: If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

Christ has died and risen, giving us all an opportunity for eternal life with God in Heaven. However, His work still continues on Earth, through the Church. Not just the formal organization, but by us, its members.

Sequence - Victimæ paschali laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
Christ, who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia.

The Sequence is a type of song, which originated in the early Church. From the beginning, they were sung after the Alleluia and before the Gospel, but in 2002, the Church reversed the order, so they’re sung before the Alleluia. This is so the congregation can meditate on the mysteries described in the sequence, before rising for the gospel. This particular Sequence goes back to the 11th century, and is one of only four to continue to be in use after the Council of Trent.

All of which is to say, this isn’t something you should be droning through thoughtlessly, letting the words go from your eyes to your mouth without hitting your brain.

Medieval peasants couldn’t study their Bible, because they were illiterate and poor. You’re neither.2 This song put the Gospels in a memorable, and memorizable way, so they could contemplate the mystery of the resurrection. You should to, when you can.3

Alleluia

cf. 1 Cor 5:7

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed;
let us then feast with joy in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are actually two different celebrations, the latter immediately following the former. Paul is telling his (Jewish) readers that Jesus’ death is the true Passover celebration, and we Christians now celebrate perpetual feast of unleavened bread.

Jn 20:1-9

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Pilate put guards at the tomb to prevent grave robbers, but the disciples knew they weren’t going to rob the tomb. They were simply going to conduct some burial rituals they didn’t have time for before the Sabbath.

So, they were shocked to find the tomb empty. Who would do this? Why would they desecrate a peaceful man’s grave?

But then Peter and John saw the burial cloths, and figured out what must have happened. What was it about the cloths that told them Jesus was alive? Well, one theory goes that they spent a lot of time with Jesus, and knew His day-to-day habits.

They knew how He made his bed.

A body snatcher isn’t going to neatly roll up the burial shroud. They’d either toss it aside or, more likely, take it with the body. But this looked like Jesus woke up Sunday morning and started going about his day.

Remember Lazarus? “The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth.”4 That's because he didn't get up on his own power. He was probably confused and maybe a little panicked.

Jesus, on the other hand, got up, unwrapped himself, folded his shroud, and left. Not exactly what most of us would expect from the most important event in human history.