The Empty Tomb: Non-existence as Existence

Do not see Me where I am Not, see me where I am. When you see me there, you will be a different person.

Easter is crossing over. It is a crossing from one state of life to another. Symbolically, it is a crossing of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) from the land of Egypt (known to be bondage) to the land of liberty, the land flowing honey and milk, a land of prosperity, justice and peace. 

To understand this crossing over, we can consider a caterpillar eating the heavy stuff in the jungle and making its cocoon and after a period of time, comes out with a beautiful body, wings and flies around, pollinating the flowers, mesmerizing the children and assisting the plants to yield berries, drupes and fruits. The butterfly makes its presence felt. It is no more in the cocoon. The old life is a thing of the past and a new life has begun. Everyone hates the caterpillar, it is ugly, it is itchy, it is dangerous; but not the butterfly. Butterfly is a mystery revealed from the cocoon, it is a mesmerizing beauty to the poets, writers, children and the old. It is an inspiration to others to ‘become.’ 

Our past life is like a life of bondage in Egypt. It is a life of Babylonian captivity. It is a life of struggle in the desert, hungry, thirsty and tired. At times we felt, ‘God has forsaken us’ in our sojourn. We condemned our leaders who led us to the Promised Land. We doubted in our own inner beauty and strength. When we were thirsty for a drop of water, we fought wars with self and with each other. 

Then the days of life in the cocoon began. What were those forty days! The Lenten Days. Those were the days of fasting, penance, abstinence, prayer and reflection. 

One truth is learnt in these days for sure, as any motivational speakers who rightly say, “if I can today, I can tomorrow. If I can, I will. If I could in these forty days, I will in the next coming forty years.” Yes. Many of us were fasting from ill-speaking, back-biting, violence, destruction, lies, hatred, jealousy, avarice and the list goes on and on. Many were trying to overcome their addictions, addictions alcohol, drugs, sex, internet, pornography, whatsapp, facebook and what not! Many were atoning for their past sins and karmas. Many were practicing the virtues of service, benevolence, mercy and charity. For such people, Jesus has risen today. He has strengthened them for the last forty days and is continuing to strengthen now. If they have succeeded in the last forty days, they will succeed in the coming forty years as well. Change is possible. New life is possible. Resurrection is possible. Acche din possible. 

This does not mean that there will not be difficulties and problems in the future life. The fact that I have begun to live a resurrected life, is the fact that I am ready for the struggle within. But now the same struggle is with a positive approach and not with a negative, depressed and pessimism. The butterfly has to face the world. It has to face the bigger animals of which the prey it is. But now it is not afraid to face the reality. It lives till its last breath giving life to others, pollinating the flowers, cheering the children of the creation, and thus bearing a witness to the world. St. Stephan did it, St. Paul did it and many other eminent saints of the list. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhiji, Oscar Romero, Rani Maria, A.T. Thomas, Graham Stains and their children and many more such people have done it in front of our eyes. If they have done, why can’t I?

Resurrection is Jesus becoming alive. He is truly resurrected. He will die no more. His presence cannot be reduced to the pages of the Bible or a statue in a church, or limited to the tabernacle in the church, institutions and building. He is no more confined to the limited space of our selfish desires. He is a living reality. We can encounter and discover him in the midst of our lives through the eyes of faith - in all our problems, struggles, crises, challenges, worries, dilemmas, difficulties, calamities, trials, risks, struggles, joys and sorrows, disappointments and frustrations. Because he lives, we can experience his peace in the midst of our disturbed and anxious minds, his providence in our deprivation, his support in our weakness and his outstretched arms in our faults, falls and failures.

Today the resurrected Jesus has to be seen not in the tomb where He was laid to rest. He is to be seen in the living people. He is that same Jesus in the farmer tilling the land in the remote village with the seeds of hope. He is seen amongst the slum dwellers who struggle for an inch of land and morsel of bread. He is seen in every mother struggling to feed her young one. 

He is seen in the hospitals in the nurses and doctors giving life to the patients. He is the same Jesus who is carrying the discarded foetus from our backyards and dustbins and nurture them with motherly care. He is the same resurrected Jesus in the old-age homes taking care of the chased out fathers and mothers from their homes. He is the same resurrected Jesus in the schools and colleges holding the hands of the tiny tots and teaching them the values of life. 

Jesus has Risen. I have seen him. I have witnessed his acts. I have seen his empty tomb. I also have seen his glory on the earth. Therefore, I have made a firm resolution in life that I will carry and witness this resurrected Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life to people around. 

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Crucifying the Crucified: A Meditation on the Crucifixtion of Jesus

The term ‘Crucifixion’ means executing a death penalty by fixing on a wood. It may be on an upright piece of wood or a stake, or a cross beamed upright stake or pole. Usually it is performed to provide a death to a notorious criminal or a traitor in a most painful way and therefore the term in English ‘excruciating’, ‘a gruesome pain’. The execution is done in the public place where people can see and witness. Jesus is crucified on a wood that had horizontal beam which became the symbol of Christianity in the world eventually. 

Why is Jesus crucified? For the facts of the story—which the gospel writers everywhere try to belabor, are that Jesus was crucified for his God-like behavior and his outrageous claims to be God, blasphemy. Among the many sweet sounding clichés in our day, often known is that Jesus was killed for being exceedingly inclusive and kind. He was crucified for welcoming the outcasts, it is said. He was murdered for hanging out with prostitutes and half-breeds. He was killed because He was so courageously loving and his enemies just couldn’t take it anymore.

One may ask, ‘if Jesus were to be God, why did He die at all? Or can a God die?’ Letter to Philippians says, “Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage” (Phil 2:6). He is a primordial Word which became Human, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us (Jn 1:14). God became flesh because, he loved humanity more than anything else. His overflowing love and mercy made him to incarnate and live as one of us. 

Why then, Jesus had to die? Jesus’ death was an essential part of God's plan for our salvation. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice to atone for the sins of all people. Through His death, we are freed from the deadly grip of sin. Although we do not fully understand the how or why of Jesus' sacrificial death, it offers us a chance for salvation, and that is the central belief and hope of Christianity. 

The people responsible for Jesus’ death were not the people who devoutly followed Him. But the accusers were the people who were very much aware of his work and mission. They were the religious leaders, the chief priests, elders, scribes and the governing people of the time like Pilate. Jesus was the pricking thorn in the flesh of their self-righteousness. This is not uncommon even today. 

Today Jesus is represented by all those incidents and events of mercy, peace, brotherhood, harmony, equality, service, charity, humanness, justice and peace. Jesus is also represented by those people who serve selflessly for the last, least and lost. 

Today, this Jesus is being crucified every day and everywhere, socially, religiously, economically, culturally, politically, ideologically, theologically, and so on. When the self-righteous, selfish and idiosyncratic people do not recognize the rights and duties of the weaker sections of the society, Jesus is crucified in them. When the democratically elected government fails to recognize the plight of the common people and when it does not address the basic needs, Jesus is crucified. When the common man is unable to avail the basic needs like water, food, house, health care facilities, when he is dictated what to eat and what not to eat, where to go and where not go, what to do and what not to do, Jesus is crucified. Government has lots of schemes for the ordinary people – like free education, free medical facilities, free ambulance facilities, free of cost delivery care for the pregnant women, girl-child welfare schemes, subsidies for the farmers, stipends for the widows, widowers, retired teachers and soldiers. But the rampant corruption, grabbing mentality, unhealthy bureaucracy and materialistic life crucifies Jesus. Human dignity has become the word of the past. Rivers and animals are given human status, but humans are left to fend for themselves. 

A tribal man carries his wife’s dead body on his shoulder in Odisha shows the system:

the district hospital authorities allegedly refused to arrange hearse van for transporting the body 

The innocent people are made scapegoats for the sake of development in various parts of the country. The original inhabitants of the land who cared and loved from the very beginning are deprived of their right. Land is alienated or mortgaged to build factories, ‘fly-overs’, ‘hospitals’, ‘welfare’. Who are the beneficiaries? ‘Big belly Uncle Sams!’ What a paradox. The development is only for the ‘developed’. It’s my land, my money, my sweat and my people, but I am taxed for it. While the real beneficiaries look for few crumbs, the so called custodians enjoy the fruit of the labour. The best example is the food price and menu available to the ministers in the Parliament canteen, or their shooting salaries. Yes, Jesus is crucified today.

Religions who are supposed to be the custodians of faith, morality and devotions have become the centers of marketing institutions. Higher the tower, magnificent the building, greater the amount of silver and gold statues, bigger the collection boxes, louder the noise is understood to be the best religion. Preaching the Word of God has become a money making business. They have enough and more money to invest in the shares and mutual funds but not to the one who is begging in its porch. Is not Jesus crucified? 

Jesus is crucified even in our own communities and culture. The blood of caste and creed is very thick in our blood. Somehow, we are not able to come out of it, be it Christians or in any other religions. Jesus did not make any distinction between sex and creed. He wanted to annihilate all the differences. He tried to cross the boundaries of the dissention. Yet, he was accused. People are suffocating due to this sickness in our communities. Are we not crucifying Jesus again?

We are in need of Jesus’ resurrection today. The society is in very much in need of resuscitation. Jesus’s incarnation was to put an end to the physical, moral, psychological and spiritual suffering and thus to establish the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and harmony. Where there is real a growth, where there is brotherhood and there is Jesus. The distance between the Good Friday and Easter is not a big one, just ‘three days’. This means, darkens, sin, our negative attitudes will not last long, nor should they persist. It’s my firm conviction and belief that whenever chaos reach to its zenith, the re-incarnation of God takes place in some form or the other, in the form of righteous people or the events. When one human being recognizes the other fellow human being as ‘brother, sister, mother, father’, Jesus becomes alive. This is the day of resurrection which I am longing for.

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

This article is also published in Morning India English Daily, Ranchi Edition, page no. 4,  on 16/4/2017. For the online reading click the following link. 

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