Today's Gospel shows us a contrast between those who believe and those who refuse to
believe. The former experience joy, while the latter are troubled. The former can see
things in the light of the resurrection, while the latter remain in darkness. Consequently,
while the former grow in knowledge, the latter fall deeper and deeper into error, even to
the point of saying ridiculous things. The resurrection took place on the day after the
Sabbath, and as the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, so the day of the resurrection
is the eighth, in a way outside the world cycle of seven days. And yet the resurrection
is something, so the resurrection in this sense is something which belongs to the world
to come. The resurrection is something that comes at the end of the world, and yet it
takes place in history. The light of the eighth day is present in the midst of history, and
in the light of this day, the light of the resurrection, the meaning of the scriptures
is revealed. On the day of Pentecost, St. Peter explained how the resurrection was foretold
in the Old Testament. He cited several passages. Today we heard the explanation of the first
one, which is taken from Psalm 16, when David said, You will not abandon my soul to the
netherworld, nor will you suffer your Holy One to undergo corruption. Of whom was he
speaking? Not of himself, because he had been in the tomb for a thousand years, and with
all due respect to that holy man, it had to be acknowledged that by now his body had undergone
corruption. St. Peter, instructed by Christ and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, teaches
us that David spoke of Christ. But how could he have known about Christ a thousand years
before he was born? St. Peter gives us two reasons. The first is that he was a prophet.
In fact, all Jews recognized that certain psalms contained prophecies, such as Psalm
2, which spoke of the Messiah. Furthermore, he knew about the Christ because God had sworn
an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, that is, the
Messiah, and had communicated this to him through the prophet Nathan. So on the basis
of the knowledge God gave him in these two ways, both enlightening him directly and speaking
to him through prophets, David could well know that the Messiah, his descendant, would
not remain in the grave, but instead rise again before his body corrupted, before the
fourth day. So, indeed, very few people understood the meaning of this prophecy before it was
fulfilled. Not even the apostles understood that this was what it was talking about. But
afterwards, in the light of the resurrection, they could see. And now St. Peter, that is
now on Pentecost, St. Peter and the other apostles can at least bear witness to the
fact of its fulfillment, can show how those words meant something that no one had guessed,
but that in the light of their fulfillment is quite clear. However, they were not the
first witnesses. The first witnesses were women. On the morning of Sunday, the day of
the resurrection, the women went to the tomb to perfume Jesus's dead body, as was fitting
for a respected figure. In this way, they would somewhat repair for the dishonor, the
disrespect that had been shown to Jesus by his torture and death. There had not been
time to do this, to perfume the body before the Sabbath rest. However, when they arrived,
they did not find him. An angel descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone
that closed the tomb, and sat upon it. He opened the tomb to show that Jesus was no
longer there. Before dawn, he had risen, Jesus, that is, and came out of the closed
tomb, just as at his birth, he had come out of the closed womb of his mother. The angel
said to the women, I know that you are seeking Jesus, the crucified. He is not here, for
he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay, then go quickly
and tell his disciples. He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you
into Galilee. There you will see him. The angel came from heaven, bearing the light
of the eighth day, the light of the resurrection. The women, though not fully convinced, obeyed,
bringing the message to the disciples. With Peter and John, they then returned, as we
heard yesterday, and then once again they departed. At this point, Jesus rewarded the
women's obedience by appearing to them. So, St. Matthew is compressing a series of events
into a brief account. The angels' words were confirmed by their encounter with the
risen Lord, whose light filled their souls, and so they believed, and believing, they
experienced joy. Their feelings contrast with those of the soldiers and the leaders of the
Jews, who did not want to believe. St. Augustine comments that at the tomb such miracles happened
that the soldiers themselves, who had come to stand guard, should have been witnesses.
They'd seen an earthquake, they'd seen an angel open the tomb. If only they had wanted
to tell the truth, they should have been witnesses. But that same avarice which had enslaved the
disciple who was a companion of Christ, now also enslaved the soldiers who had guarded
the tomb. Here we see one of the reasons why people lose the faith, or don't accept it
in the first place, the allure of the things of this world, especially money. The leaders
of the Jews, on the other hand, were blinded by their pride and envy. They were unable
to admit the superiority of Jesus and his teaching, and they were afraid that they would
lose their positions if Jesus became the head of the Jews. The story they invented to deny
the resurrection is not very convincing, as St. Augustine pointed out. If the guards were
asleep, what would they have been able to see? And if they didn't see anything, how
can you call them as witnesses? But the leaders of the Jews became foolish because they had
rejected the truth of the resurrection. Once you reject the truth, then you are doomed
to live in error. Fearing the light of the eighth day, they took refuge in the darkness
of error and made up an absurd lie. So let us instead choose truth and faith, and let
us welcome the light of the eighth day, so that we may know the joy that has no end.
Praised be Jesus and Mary.
Now and forever.
Amen.