Jesus is alive!

[AI translation] In the story we read, we are presented with one of the greatest scenes of the great, joyous, Easter event. It is about how a sad human soul, who had all hope in Jesus and lost it, becomes convinced that Jesus is alive! This is the great, triumphant Easter message that I would like to proclaim today: that Jesus is alive!A sad Easter morning has dawned for this Mary Magdalene, the one we are talking about. It is not enough that Jesus, the only One who had given purpose, meaning and content to her life, is dead - now she cannot even find her earthly remains to surround her with her grateful grace, at least in the dust of her death - behold, the tomb is empty! It really cannot be endured any longer! He bursts out in bitterness, weeping his sorrow: "They have taken my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him!"
I feel, Brothers and Sisters, as if in these words of desolation the Easter mood of countless people today could find expression in our own lives. It is as if the same lamentation is being felt by so many souls today! For perhaps there was a time when we still had Jesus, long ago, perhaps when we were still attending Confirmation classes; or in the hot atmosphere of the awakening of the forties and fifties, when we could look up to Him with a more childlike faith; there was a time when we still loved Him, when we felt His goodness, His helping power, heard His word, when we still said to Him with joy, "URAM! And we felt that he was! But then slowly, almost imperceptibly, he disappeared from our lives! Something came along and covered his face... Maybe a person, maybe a newborn child, or love, or marriage, it took the place of Jesus in our hearts. It became so important in our lives that it took from us the One who should have remained the greatest. Perhaps books were put into our hands, works of great scholarship, critical works, full of human wisdom, and they tore down the budding flowers of our old faith. Or maybe our worries have multiplied so much that we have no time to look in the eyes of the one who could have helped us in quiet conversation, and now we don't even know where Jesus has gone!... Or perhaps some old sin has come back to life, or perhaps things have happened in our lives that could not possibly be reconciled with the holiness of Jesus' presence. And the more we were overcome by sin, the more we were alienated from Jesus! And that's why we think that maybe he is no longer alive! Yes, Mary seems to be putting into words what so many feel: because they have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put Him.
And so Easter has become so very different for us! Our souls are so impoverished! We have just sung the triumphant, great Easter hymn, "Let us rejoice, let us be glad, Christ is our consolation, Hallelujah!" But did this rejoicing really come from the fullness of our hearts? Is it not true that most people, when they hear the word Easter, think of two or three beautiful spring days when they can do what they love for once again. Or a trip to the mountains, or Easter watering, Easter bunny and red eggs... So much for Easter fun! "They've taken my Lord and I don't know where they've put him!" Yes: this Easter without the Risen One, this Easter without Easter faith... It's just like a mother who has lost her child to have a doll put in her lap! Or like when a bride whose happiness is broken is given a theatre ticket. Such a pitiful substitute for the soul is the Easter egg, or a spring bouquet, or a trip to the green instead of the joy of meeting the risen Jesus! Without a living faith in the risen Christ, the human soul is like a watch whose spring has been taken out, like a lung from which the air has been cut off, like a severed artery through which life, the whole Christian life, bleeds to death... Like Mary Magdalene there at the empty tomb: hesitant, hopeless, worried, sad, lost! Poor soul, there she stands, swallowing her tears, before the empty tomb of her former Lord!... This is what Easter looks like without the Risen One! For they have taken my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.
And it would be so good to know again, to believe that Jesus is alive and here! We need someone greater than death, someone with purity, someone who will hold our hands, who will warm our cold souls with love, who will comfort our hearts, who will give our lives a new, purer meaning! But we desperately need in this world the Jesus who once lived but died! Mary knows that Jesus is no more! And while Mary knows this and weeps: there is Jesus standing next to her!
She weeps for the One who has already risen from the dead. She does not yet know that Jesus cannot be taken away, taken away, taken out of this world - no matter what happens, no matter what is done to Him, no matter what or who has driven Him out of life, hidden His face, denied His existence: He is still alive! In fact, in full awareness of my responsibility before God, I claim and proclaim that He is here now! He is here with you, as real and personal as He was then, there with Mary, even if you ignore Him as you did then, there with Mary! But how can anyone be sure that Jesus is alive?! Let us see how this assurance was made here in the story: the proof was not the tomb that was opened, for Mary was standing before it, and yet how far from being able to believe in the resurrection! Not even the Easter proclamation of the evangelists is proof. Moreover, if some recent excavation were to turn up, say, the shrouds in which Jesus' body was wrapped, and which remained in the open tomb after his resurrection: that would not inspire anyone with true Easter faith either! Only He Himself can convince someone of the resurrected, living reality of Jesus, as He did this woman in this story, by addressing her! And let me say, along with many other believers, that my faith in the Risen Jesus is not so much based on the preaching of the apostles, but rather on the fact that the Risen One Himself has already reached into my life with a word, addressed me personally with a Word, and through Him has proved Himself to be alive and powerful in me. In fact, what is written in the Easter message is only of value to me because it confirms what I have personally experienced. I have never seen a vine grow on a withered vine, or a dead soul come to life and revive. However, I see so much power, light, warmth and life flowing out of Jesus that He cannot be dead then! He must be alive! Millions and millions of souls are experiencing day by day that when they cry out to Jesus, it is not their own voice that is being heard back to them, but they are being answered by Him. Every truly praying soul is assured that the One to Whom he cries is alive, even if not visible, yet alive, for behold, He is answering!
Here, in this story, Jesus speaks only one word, and one word only: Mary! But that one little word changed everything at once. It released the tension, dried the tears, calmed the heart, solved the problem. In that one word is all the certainty of the resurrection, all the joy of Easter! For in that one word the same Saviour's love was revealed that was revealed when he was still on earth!
If the story of the resurrection had been invented by human imagination, it would have been told in a very different way. Human imagination would have described Jesus as appearing after the resurrection to those who had crucified him. Imagine what an impressive scene it would have been if he had appeared before the high council and looked Caiaphas in the eye! Or if he stood up before Pilate and said, "Well, Pilate, you asked so hastily what is the truth? Well, now you see what the truth is! See the place of the nails which thy thieves have smitten upon me, and the wounds of the crown of thorns which thou hast put upon my head!" Just as Jesus is here now, as he was before his death, as the tender shepherd of the sorrowing human soul! He does not ask how I can have the greatest impact, how I can secure the greatest results for myself, but who needs me most! And who needs Him most on this Easter morning than that woman, so hopelessly orphaned to the depths of her soul?
My brethren! It is precisely the great Easter joy that we have a Savior whose first path always leads to those who need Him most, who long for Him most, who most need His help, His presence, His power! Wherever there is even a tiny spark of longing for Him, He is already there, very close by, calling to you, Mary - or Peter, or Joseph, or Ilona, or Esther, or Elizabeth, or Gyula - "do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine, I love you, I am here with you!" (Is 43:1b) Well, already on the first Easter morning, he comforts me! And he's been doing it ever since. And basically, we are always people in need of divine comfort. All weak, hesitant, clueless, lost people! And the Easter gospel is for just such souls. Because the One we need so much is alive! The friend of sinners, the comforter of the sorrowful, the hope of the brokenhearted, the uplifter of the downcast: He lives! Yet Jesus lives! And yet in His hands all the strands of power in heaven and earth come together. Then even the most seemingly meaningless confusion in the world makes sense after all! The God who made Easter out of the darkness and meaninglessness of Good Friday and the silent Good Saturday, fear not, is powerful enough to find a solution to all the other mysteries of life, and even to the great maze of death!
With such tender love, Jesus says to Mary, "Woman, why are you weeping?" And why does this woman weep? She has no reason to, for Jesus is standing behind her, she has only to turn away from the tomb and look up to Him. All you have to do is to turn towards him in your soul, because he is standing in front of you: from your problems, from your insolubility, from your uncertainty, you have only to look up to him - and everything will be enlightened. And if you are in doubt, say to yourself: 'I know that my Saviour lives! And even if you are tempted to think that it is not true, say: I know that my Saviour lives! And if any trouble troubles your soul, say boldly to yourself, I know that my Saviour liveth! And if old sin should tempt you again, cling to this assurance: 'I know that my Saviour liveth! And in the morning, when you go out to work, among the people, assure yourself: I know... And when you stand over an expensive grave in a cemetery, assure yourself: I know that my Saviour lives! And when the evening of life falls upon you and the great darkness of death comes, say again with joy: I know that my Saviour lives! And if any man say anything, thou shalt say, I know that my Saviour liveth! And you will be right! And let us say it all together now:
I know that my Savior lives,
His hair is ready for me;
He beckons to me and crowns me
Promises after the earthly battle.
Though the world mocks and laughs,
Homesickness fills my soul,
For soon the Lord will call:
Come home, come, my child!
The Lord is waiting with open arms:
Come, rest, rest in my bosom.
Canto 421, verse 1.
Amen
Date: 18 April 1965 Easter