Resurrecting Forward – Michael Austin
Easter is very much in the air and we are in the happy mood that is engendered by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. The stone at the entrance of the tomb has been rolled away, and our Lord has valiantly triumphed over evil. This time of the year offers us an ample opportunity to reflect on the rising of Jesus with a forward-thinking mentality.
One can resurrect in two ways: backward and forward. This is clearly illustrated in the Sacred Scriptures. To resurrect backwards means to rise from earthly life back to earthly life. This was the case with Lazarus (cf. John 11:1-44), the son of the widow of Naim (cf. Luke 7:11-17), and Jairus’ daughter (cf. Mark 5:22-24; 35-43). These three all experienced a resurrection. They were raised from the dead by Jesus. But they surely died once again at a later date. But in the case of Jesus, it was different. Jesus had what could be called a “forward resurrection”, because He rose from earthly life to the heavenly or glorious one.
There is nothing bad with having an earthly resurrection. In fact, it makes us have a foretaste of the eternal and definitive one. In our life in the world, we can be said to experience the earthly resurrection in different ways. When we rise from defeat and become conquerors, we are said to have resurrected. When we overcome disappointments, heartbreaks and failures, we are said to have risen. When a politician gets to win an election after experiencing many defeats in the past, he/she could be said to have risen from the state of past losses. All these human victories prefigure the divine one which is to come when our work and time on earth are done.
The resurrection of Jesus is reported to us at two levels: the level of facts and the level of faith. The level of facts has to do with the things that can be seen with the physical eyes. These are the empty tomb, burial clothes, the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus not being found. The level of faith is that which gives meaning to that of the facts; it is that which involves looking with spiritual eyes.
In order to truly live in the spirit of Easter, we have to transcend the level of facts in order to arrive at the level of faith. If we remain at the level of facts, it would be as if Jesus did not rise, or that He rose back to life in order to continue to live the earthly life. We should not be primarily men and women of facts. Though facts are important, they are not always the appropriate and convincing aids to belief. If we chose to be persons of faith, we shall believe even without seeing with our corporal eyes. It is this same faith that will enable us to resurrect forward, rather than backwards.
We are in the world, but not of the world. This should always create in us the need to see this world as it is: a transitory stage. Some people wouldn’t mind staying here forever. They would always prefer the earthly resurrection. If others will have this mind-set, we Christians are supposed to show a contrary disposition and outlook on life. We are called to let people know that that this world is not our home, that our true dwelling place will be in heaven. But it is unfortunate, and sometimes scandalous, that some so-called believers are at the fore-front of propagating beliefs and practices that are at variance with what the Church teaches. These should be highly discouraged since they serve as obstacles to authentic faith, and will ultimately hinder us from resurrecting forward.