'The apparent failure of Jesus has been reversed...'

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!  Indeed He is Risen!

Pascha - Day Eighteen

"The question asked of God by Jesus from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (14:34) has been answered. Jesus has not been forsaken. Unconditionally obedient to the will of God (see 14:36), Jesus has accepted the cup of suffering. On the cross he is Messiah, King of Israel, and Son of God (see 15:32, 39). God's never-failing presence to his obedient Son leads to the definitive action of God: he has been raised! The apparent failure of Jesus has been reversed by the action of God, who has raised Jesus from death. The women are told to look at the place where they laid him: The opponents of Jesus crucified him, and they place his body in a tomb ("look at the place where they laid him"). It could appear that they have had their victory, but they have been thwarted. He has been raised, and the existence of the Gospel indicates that there is a community of believers whose coming into being depends upon God's action. Jesus' prophecy that the rejected stone would become the foundation stone of a new Temple God has proven true (see 12:11-12; 14:58; 15:29)."

From The Resurrection of the Messiah by Francis J.Moloney
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This passage is excerpted from a fine work of biblical exegesis by the scholar Francis J. Moloney. The vindication of the messianic claims of Jesus is here stressed in the reversal of the cross and death manifested in the glory of the Resurrection. No wonder the myrrhbearing women were filled with a feeling of "trembling and astonishment!"