Gospel: Mark 16, 1-7
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to embalm Him. On the first day of the week, very early, when the sun was just up, they went to the tomb. But they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the grave?” Looking up, however, they noticed that the stone had been rolled away; and it was very large. When they entered the tomb, they were shocked to see a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side. He said to her, ‘Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He is risen, He is not here. Look, this is the place where they laid Him. Go and say to his disciples and to Peter, He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’
Commentary by Bishop Lode Aerts: ‘Life in death’
“Who will roll away the stone from the grave for us?” The women who want to anoint the body of the dead Jesus are in sackcloth and ashes. Jesus had once given them hope and dignity, but all this now seems to be a thing of the past. That his cross is not the end only dawns on them when an angel brings them the Easter message. It is an almost unbelievable miracle! Yes, Jesus was laid in a tomb, but not even the darkness of death can extinguish God’s light. Jesus was resurrected and, according to the credo we profess on Sunday, ‘He descended into hell’.
Innocent civilians in Gaza or Ukraine and victims of abuse have no doubt that hell exists. They experience it every day.
But the great miracle is that Christ becomes present in that abyss of pain and sorrow.
He brings God’s love, ‘which never fails’ as Paul writes in the Song of Love (1 Cor 13:8). This is the secret of Easter: Christ does not save us from death. Rather, He saves us in death.
It is only when we take the pain of suffering and death seriously that we realize the reality of the new life.
Easter is not a fairy tale. It is about the fragile life, in the midst of death.
Perhaps we should pay more attention to Holy Saturday. This is the day of victims who remain silent and mourn. God seems dead.
Look at the church building on that crucial day. The altar is naked. The tabernacle empty. No Eucharist, no burning candles, no singing and no ringing of bells. Only a silent presence with those who suffer.
That’s where the miracle happens.
In the midst of the darkness and the shadow of death, God kindles a light that will never go out.
Look at the Easter icons. The risen Lord Jesus is bathed in radiant light. The gates of hell have been thrown off their hinges and lie shattered at his feet. With both hands, Jesus pulls Adam and Eve out of their graves. Their names speak volumes: adam is Hebrew for human and eve means living being. Indeed: God brings people to life. He walks with us through death. Happy Easter.
Lode Aerts is Bishop of Bruges.
