[AI translation] The next part of the Gospel of John was already discussed at Easter, when we moved forward to the triumphant event of the resurrection on the feast of the resurrection. Now it is that part again, so let us take the opportunity to consider the impact of the news of the resurrection on the disciples. The reason I have taken this one verse from Matthew's Gospel, which I have read out as a primer, is that it sums up in a sentence the experience of the apostles and the holy women on Easter morning: "And quickly departing from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples." (Mt 28,8) So the news of the resurrection caused fear and joy in those who heard it, those who took note of it. And now I would like to talk about why is the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead terrifying, why is the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead joyful?1) Perhaps we need to start a little further back to understand why the news of the resurrection is so awesome. The human spirit in all places, at all times, and at all levels of culture has been deeply concerned with the problem of death: what is death, and especially: what comes after? People have always suspected and felt that death is not the end, but a phenomenon that covers something, that separates something from something, that has something behind it, but what? But try as he might, he could not see through it. No matter how hard he tried, he could not break through it, he could not make a gap. Death is like an impenetrable, thick, dark curtain that hides a whole world, a whole world of wonderful secrets. But even if it is impossible to break through from here to there, sometimes a message, a sign, a ray comes through here! From the radiance of the world beyond death, sometimes a ray of light breaks through that thick curtain and brings a faint, glimmering message from that other world. Each such revelation from the other side, from beyond death, is poignant for the man on the other side. And there are such revelations, as if they were signals from the other world. Not long ago I read a whole book which explores precisely those phenomena which can be observed at the border between life and death, where these two worlds are in contact with each other. There are many observations that often when a dying person arrives at this border, that is, at the moment of death, it is as if he or she can already see more, as if he or she can already see the light emerging from the world that is hidden from us by death.
For example, a colleague of mine in a nearby village told me that during the siege there was no fighting in their village, only shots fired over the village from a great distance. He and his wife and children were preparing lunch when his wife ran to the window and cried out in amazement: "Look how bright and white everything is! The others looked, but saw nothing. They even told the woman that there was no brightness there, it was only a grey, darkening winter afternoon. But the woman claimed that she saw the brightness. The next moment a grenade exploded not far from the house, and a fragment of the shell, which hit the woman through the window, struck her in the heart and killed her instantly. She herself did not know that a second before she had been on the border where the two worlds meet, and that from the threshold she had seen something shining through the light of the world beyond death, which was still hidden from the others by death! But there are many similar cases, all of which show that the mysterious light of that other world sometimes breaks through the darkness of death and becomes perceptible on the other side. All such revelations are terrifying and shocking to man on earth. Why? Because he can feel a little of the reality of standing before God with his earthly senses! It is the holy terror that Moses felt at the burning bush, or Isaiah at a vision of the glory of the Lord. Here too, the reality of that other world is perceived, seen and heard in unusual, shocking phenomena, as the curtain of death is pierced.
But all these and similar phenomena are only a pale glimpse of what happened at Easter. The open tomb, the empty tomb, is itself like a gap in that impenetrable, thick, dark curtain, a gap through which the soul looks with awe into the world of mysteries. And then the personal appearance of the risen Jesus Christ before the astonished human eyes is as if the whole world beyond death were projected here in a single, living, moving, glorious person! Christ is risen, the tomb is empty! Truly risen, body and soul, and seen in living reality by human eyes!
This is the true, the great, the universal message from that other world, from beyond death, and it is no longer a faint glimmer that breaks through the dark curtain, but a blinding light like the rising sun! I cannot imagine meeting the risen Christ in any other way than with such holy trembling, such joyful awe, for the greatest mystery, the eternal mystery, that has always been the greatest thrill to the human soul: a piece of the world beyond death is alive before them, speaking to them! As if to say: look, I have opened the curtain! See what is behind death: resurrection, eternal life, I am there! I, God!
Do you already feel why the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead is so terrifying? Because the light of the world beyond death shines in him, and his dazzling rays make the soul tremble! And ever since, to whom Jesus Himself made known His resurrection, to whom He revealed Himself, to whom He personally set Himself before Himself, the first person to experience this holy fear is always the holy terror of the Lord's presence. Such was the experience of Paul on the road to Damascus, on the island of Patmos, the Apostle John. I can very much understand the women who are recorded as "quickly departing from the tomb in fear", but at the same time "running with great joy!"
2) For that is what is so wonderful about the Easter message, that as fearful as it is, it is still joyful. It is fearfully joyful news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! It is not only the joy that the Jesus whom his people loved has now been brought back from the dead, that they can be with him again as before - but much more than that! The liberated, triumphant joy that there, beyond death, Jesus, their Master, is Lord! What greater joy can there be than to know, to be assured, that the same Jesus Christ lives and reigns there, Who suffered on the cross, was the atoning sacrifice for me, and paid for me with the shedding of His blood?! Can there be greater joy than to receive a message from beyond from One who died here on earth for me? To be assured of the reality of the risen Jesus is to be assured that the same Jesus is waiting for me beyond death, the same Jesus whom I knew here, the same Jesus who loved me here, the same Jesus who chose me for Himself here. To hear the Easter message means not to fear sin, punishment, judgment, death, eternity, God, because Jesus is there! His resurrected, incorruptible, heavenly body still bears the wounds that were inflicted on Him here on earth when He paid my debt on the cross! Can we not rejoice in this? Is it possible, in the knowledge of this great good news, to do anything but rejoice?
Believe me, there is no news in the world more comforting, more joyful than that Jesus is alive! For if this is true, then there is no mistake! And he who has already come to know this glorious fact by faith can truly rejoice in every situation of his life! Just as the disciples and the women in this story rejoiced! The underlying mood of Easter is joy. The underlying mood of a believer in the risen Christ can also be joy. This is why, for example, the apostle Paul, in spite of all his outward misery and suffering, was a joyful spirit. It was a cruel world in which he lived his outward life, but all the more beautiful was the world in which he lived spiritually, in the fellowship of the presence of the living Christ.
That is why he could rejoice even in prison! He lived his life being constantly misunderstood, attacked, persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and yet he can write, "Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice" (Phil 4:4), and so on: "Rejoice always" (1 Thess 5:16), and so: "Wherefore we faint not: yea, though our outward man be corrupt, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction of the moment will give us very great eternal glory; for we look not on things which are seen, but on things which are unseen; for things which are seen are for ever, and things which are unseen are for ever." (2Cor 4:16-18) And then thus: "I have learned to be content in those things in which I am" (Phil 4:11) Faith in the living Christ can be very worthwhile indeed if it can make a person so happy. This kind of man can never be defeated by the world, such a man can never be miserable or unhappy, because it is Jesus, the Lord, who said, "Trust, I have convinced the world" (Jn 16,33).
Once someone, a desperate man I was comforting, said to me: It's easy for you because you have great faith! I replied: It is indeed easy for me, not because I have great faith, but because I have a great Saviour! If you have a living Saviour, it is really easy for you!
It's just that it's so hard to get that far. It was so hard for the disciples to come to the happy reality that Jesus was risen. Their souls were so filled with sadness and despair that they couldn't fit the good news into their souls because of the sadness! It was only slowly that the good news could push the sadness out of their souls, but when they realized what it was all about, then they rejoiced! So you too must realize that Jesus is risen, that you have a living Lord, so do not grieve, do not be afraid. And then, even if life is hard, it is all right to know that Jesus is Lord over all the difficulties of your life! And even if you are sick, even if you are in dire circumstances, even if you are in an unhappy marriage, it is all right if you know that in all these things Christ is Lord, and that above all these things He who loves you, who died for you, who redeemed you by His blood, is there!
How understandable, is it not, that on hearing the Easter news, those women, "quickly departing from the tomb, with fear and great joy, ran to tell His disciples"? How good it is that they really did tell their disciples, and that they passed it on to their disciples, and they passed it on again - that is how the awesome good news came to us, now, here, that Jesus is risen!
As one of the most beautiful hymns in our new hymnal says:
Christ is risen, Kit death is snatched away;
Let us rejoice, let us be glad, Christ is our comfort. Alleluia!
Unless He be raised, there is no more forgiveness,
But He lives, so holy is His name, Let us sing His praises, Alleluia!
Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let us rejoice, let us be glad, Christ is our comfort. Alleluia!
Hymn 185
Amen
Date: 19 August 1951.
Lesson
Jn 20,1-18