The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community, handed on as fundamental by Tradition, established by the documents of the New Testament, and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with the Cross: Christ is risen from the dead! Dying, he conquered death; Rising he brought us to new life.
The Historical Event
The mystery of Christ’s Resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness. Saint Paul writes to the Corinthians. “I handed on to you first of all what I myself received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures; that he was buried, and, in accordance with the Scriptures, rose on the third day; that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that he was seen by five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have fallen asleep. Next he was seen by James; then by all the Apostles. Last of all he was seen by me….” (1Cor.15:3-4). The Apostle speaks here of the living Tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus.
The Empty Tomb
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, he has risen” (Luke 24:5-6). The first element we encounter in the framework of the Easter events is the empty tomb. In itself it is not a direct proof of the Resurrection; the absence of Christ’s body could be explained otherwise. Nevertheless, the empty tomb was still an essential sign for all. Its discovery by the disciples was the first step toward recognizing the very fact of the Resurrection. This was the case, first with the holy women, and then with Peter (Luke 23:3, 12, 22-23). The disciple whom “Jesus loved” affirmed that when he entered the empty tomb and discovered “the linen cloths lying there,” “He saw and believed.” This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb’s condition that the absence of Jesus’ body could not be of human doing, and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus (John. 11:44; 20:5-7).
The New Era Began on Easter Morning.
As witnesses of the Risen Christ, the Apostles remain the foundation stones of his Church. The faith of the first community of believers is based on the witness of men known to the Christians and, for the most part, still, living among them. Peter and the twelve are the primary “witnesses to his Resurrection”, but, as Saint Paul points out, they are the only ones.
Faith in the Resurrection was born under the Action of Grace.
Given the testimony of all of the witnesses, Christ’s Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside of the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. It is clear from the facts that the disciples’ faith was drastically put to the test by their master’s Passion and death on the Cross, which he had foretold. The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exultation, the Gospels present us with the disciples demoralized and frightened. They had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb, and they had regarded their words as an “idle tale.” When Jesus revealed himself to the eleven on Easter evening, he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
Even when faced with the reality of the risen Jesus, the disciples were still doubtful, so impossible did it seem: they thought they were seeing a ghost. “In their joy they were still disbelieving and still wondering (Luke 24:38-41). Thomas also experienced the test of doubt, and Saint Matthew relates that during the risen Lord’s last appearance in Galilee “Some doubted”. Therefore the theory that the Resurrection was produced by the Apostles' faith does not hold up. On the contrary their faith in the Resurrection was born, under the action of grace, from their direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus.
The Condition of Christ’s Risen Humanity
By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus established direct contact with his disciples. He invited them in this way to recognize that he was not a ghost. Jesus verified for them that the risen body that had been tortured and crucified still bore the wounds and the marks of the nails, and the crown of thorns of his passion. This was really Jesus. At the same time the body of Jesus possessed the properties of a glorious body not limited by space or time. The risen Jesus enjoys the sovereign freedom of appearing as he wishes, in the guise of a gardener, or in other forms familiar to his disciples, precisely to awaken their faith.
