| Reading 1 | Response | Reading 2 | Gospel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acts 10:34a, 37-43 | Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 | Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8 | Jn 20:1-9 |
| RCL B: Acts 10:34-43 or Is 25: 6-9 | RCL B: 1 Cor 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43 | RCL B: Jn 20:1-9 or Mk 16:1-8 |
Easter: confused and confounded by an empty tomb
Easter Sunday begins the fifty-day Easter season, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection is a reason for joy and hope, because it foreshadows the future resurrections of all who believe. Today’s readings invite us to explore the resurrection’s certainties and our own confused and evolving faith.
First reading (Acts 10:34a, 37-43)
Throughout the Easter season, the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles, written in the late 80s by the same author as Luke’s gospel. Acts continues Luke’s story of Jesus and his believing community: the resurrected Jesus returns to the Father and sends the Spirit. Luke’s sequel is the story of the Spirit’s continuing actions in Jesus’ believing community, primarily in the words and actions of Peter and Paul.
In today’s pericope, Peter summarizes Jesus’ life and ministry. Jesus “begins in Galilee” with John the Baptizer’s baptism. Like the Hebrew scripture prophets, God “anoints” Jesus with God’s spirit and power, the power to overcome Satan’s earthly kingdom by “healing those oppressed by the devil.” Jesus’ followers offer personal testimony (“we are witnesses”) about his preaching and healing throughout Judea. Jesus travels to “Jerusalem,” where his saving mission reaches its apex. His opponents crucify Jesus (“hang him on a tree”), but God raises Jesus from the dead. Jesus’ disciples (“witnesses chosen by God”) encounter him alive and again share table fellowship with him. Jesus commissions his disciples to continue his work (“preach”); the disciples’ message is Jesus is messiah (“anointed” and “appointed by God”), end-time judge (“judge the living and dead”), promised one (“all the prophets bear witness”), and savior of all (“everyone who believes receives forgiveness”).
The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it contains one of the earliest kerygma (basic messages) preached to gentiles.
Second reading (Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8)
The Lectionary offers a choice of second readings:
(1) The Colossians reading is by an unknown author writing in Paul’s name in the late first century to the Colossae ekklesia. The author addresses believing communities in Asia to correct false teachings and to instruct members about living within an unbelieving society.
In this pericope, the author reminds the Colossians that, because they “were raised with Christ,” God calls them to a relationship with the divine (“what is above”), rather than following a philosophy’s or a religion’s rules (“what is on earth”) that supplants that relationship. In baptism, believers “die” to these earthly selves and their new selves are “hidden with Christ in God;” that is, believers have become part of God’s mystery. When Christ returns (“appears” at the end time), believers will also be glorified with Christ (“appear with him in glory”).
The Lectionary editors chose this reading because of its baptismal and personal resurrection themes.
(2) The Corinthians reading is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinth ekklesia. Paul writes to real flesh-and-blood people working out how best to live their faith. Paul teaches disciples to reject any words, actions, or distinctions that disrupt the community’s unity and holiness. Love is the basis and context for community life.
In this pericope, Paul expresses disappointment in the Corinth community’s behavior. In the section immediately before this pericope, he criticizes the community’s failure to remove a blatantly immoral person from their ekklesia. Paul quotes a maxim (“a little yeast leavens all the dough”), metaphorically comparing how one person’s immorality (the yeast) corrupts the entire believing community (all the dough). Continuing his bread theme, Paul reminds the Corinthians that, in baptism, they were made “unleavened,” that is, freed from sin (“a fresh batch of dough”). Using Passover imagery, Paul connects his bread image with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which celebrates the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery. Through Christ’s transformative death and resurrection (“our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed”), all are saved. All baptized believers are new and “unleavened,” that is, free from sin’s slavery. Paul urges the community to “clear out” the leavened bread (“old yeast”) of immorality and return their ekklesia to its unleavened “sincerity and truth.”
The Lectionary editors chose this reading because Paul reinterprets the Passover feast with a Christian meaning, giving the earliest Easter homily in Christian scripture.
Gospel (Jn 20:1-9)
John’s Easter story describes the disciples’ confusion and ambiguity when they encounter the resurrection’s facts: the empty tomb and discarded grave clothes. In his pericope, John profiles three disciples who represent different kinds of developing faith. John uses each encounter to reveal each person’s interpretation of the empty tomb’s meaning, and to suggest every disciple’s reactions to the Easter experience.
- Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb alone, in the darkness before sunrise, and sees the stone removed. She assumes that someone has taken Jesus’ body, and runs to tell Peter and the beloved disciple; these two disciples run to see the tomb for themselves. John says that Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb “while still dark” and he uses the Greek verb βλέπω/blépō to describe her limited ability to see, suggesting that she is not ready to perceive and understand the empty tomb’s meaning.
- Peter arrives after the beloved disciple and immediately enters the tomb. He sees the burial cloths and the rolled-up face covering. The carefully folded cloths show that the resurrected Jesus has deliberately and definitively conquered death, unlike the resuscitated Lazarus, who emerges still bound in his burial cloths. John uses the divine passive (“was/had covered,” “was lying,” “folded-up”), indicating that God is the one acting in the resurrection. John uses the Greek verb θεωρέω/theōréō to describe Peter as “seeing and discerning,” suggesting that Peter understands that Jesus body hasn’t been stolen, but he doesn’t know what else the empty tomb might mean.
- The beloved disciple is the star of John’s gospel. He outruns Peter to the tomb, but does not enter; instead, he waits for Peter to catch up. He does look into the tomb and see the burial cloths. Allowing Peter to enter the tomb first, the beloved disciple follows, sees the arranged burial and face cloths, and believes. John uses the Greek verb εἴδω/eídō to describe the beloved disciple as “seeing and immediately knowing,” suggesting that the beloved disciple understands that the empty tomb means something more. The beloved disciple’s seeing immediately brings him to faith (“he saw and believed”).
John’s Easter stories show that disciples come to faith in different ways and at different times. He cautions believers that Easter is only the beginning of their faith journey: they do “not yet understand” what the scripture means. The gift of the Spirit will give them deeper insight into Jesus’ words and actions.
Summary and reflection
Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. Throughout the Easter season, the readings invite us to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. Peter preaches to Cornelius’ gentile household the essential story and meaning of Jesus’ transformative life, death, and resurrection. The Colossians author reminds his hearers that baptism marks their personal relationship with God. Paul urges the Corinthians to maintain their unleavened baptismal state to remain free of sin’s slavery. John shows how each disciple experiences and understands the mystery of Easter differently.
The disciples’ Easter confusion and evolving faith mirror our own pilgrimage to faith. Just as baptism is only the beginning of discipleship, Easter is only the beginning of our understanding of our personal call to service and mission: the “easter in us.” How has baptism helped us to see and to understand Easter’s meaning? How do Mary Magdalene’s, Peter’s, and the beloved disciple’s stories invite us to rethink our own interpretations of the Easter mystery? How do our different sacramental encounters “easter in us” a deeper personal relationship with God and others?
—Terence Sherlock
The Lectionary In Context 