"Why
Do you seek the living among the dead?”
In a few days Armenians around the world will be celebrating
Easter, the miracle of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Going
back to the origin of this central event in the Christian faith, we encounter
the angelic proclamation telling Mary the Mother of Jesus and her companions
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen” (Luke
24:5). This declaration was really the foundation of the Christian faith. It was
following the angelic proclamation, and based on what the women witnessed at the
empty tomb of Jesus, that the good news of the resurrection of Jesus was echoed
in Jerusalem and through the apostles to the entire world. But what is the
angelic proclamation really telling us?
Obviously, the main part of the message is that Christ “has risen.”
This fact is essential to us not only because Christ was vindicated in history
against His persecutors and enemies. More importantly, rather, because
Christ’s resurrection places the hope of our resurrection on a solid
historical foundation. If His prophecies about His death and resurrection, which
He foretold His apostles, were fulfilled, then His promises regarding His
followers will be realized also. His resurrection, therefore, becomes the
historical proof that we also will rise again for an eternal life with our loved
ones. Another important part of the angelic proclamation is the identification
of Jesus as “the living among the dead.” For the believers, Jesus is not
only and simply a good teacher and reformer who lived 2005 years. He is rather
the fulfillment of God’s plan for our salvation. As such, He is the first to
die and rise from the dead, setting Himself an example and a proof of our
resurrection.
The angelic message, however, contains another interesting segment and
that is the part addressing Mary and her companions and identifying them as
those who are seeking Christ. Seeking Jesus, three days after He was publicly
condemned and executed by the authority was not an easy task. Furthermore, for
three ladies, in those days in Jerusalem, to wake up early morning and walk to
the graveyard to anoint Jesus’ body was a very risky step to take. However,
these three faith-filled ladies did it. The result of their seeking was that the
entire world heard about the victory of Christ. Imagine what would have happened
had these ladies given in to the pressures of the time and not journeyed to the
tomb seeking Jesus.
As we celebrate the anniversary of the life-changing event, let us ask ourselves do we really view Easter as the event that confirms our hope of resurrection, or is it simply an anniversary of an event in the past? Is Christ, whose resurrection we celebrate, a living God who has conquered death, or is He a figure in the pages of the history? Finally, are we doing our best, despite the contemporary social and cultural obstacles, to seek and find Christ in our lives, or have we given in to the worldly pressures? …
Christ Is Risen!
Happy Easter!
Fr.
Vahan Hovhanessian
Easter, 2005