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| Source: bostonmonks.com |
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy." (Jn. 16:20)
"Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord." (Jn. 20:20)
At the midnight Paschal Liturgy, we heard the incomparable and magnificent Prologue from the Gospel According to St. John (1:1-18). In the Prologue, Christ is identified as the eternal Word of God who, though "with God" in the beginning - and who actually "was God" - "became flesh" (as Jesus of Nazareth), "and dwelt among us with full of grace and truth" (v.14). The evangelist John then reveals that: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son (or God, as in some manuscripts), who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known." (v.18) The Gospel is then the history of the Word made flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. His ministry is marked by seven "signs" (what we call miracles) to indicate the truthfulness of that claim to those who are open to believe. In fact, those who do believe are called and become "the children of God." (v. 12)
Once the Son of Man (Jesus) is "lifted up from the earth" (12:32), He will glorify the name of God (12:28). This was, of course, the Crucifixion. Following his resurrection, the risen Lord appears to his frightened disciples (20:19-23), grants them his peace, and commissions them through "breathing" the Holy Spirit upon them to proclaim his resurrection to the world. Thomas, one of the twelve was absent on that first day of the week; but he is then present eight days later (20:24-31). During this dramatic encounter, Thomas is transformed from being an unbeliever into a believer. And in the process, utters the greatest affirmation of the identity of Christ in the Gospels: "My Lord and my God!" (20:28) Thus, we have come full circle from the Prologue. The God who has never been seen, is now "seen" in the flesh, but more importantly through the eyes of faith, in the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. This is also called inclusio, bringing together a particular theme proclaimed earlier in the Gospel with its fulfillment later. The Prologue finds its fulfillment in the profession of faith made by the disciple Thomas.
What is so meaningful and hopeful to us who are here after such a great interval of time is revealed in the response of Jesus to Thomas' extraordinary exclamation of faith: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." (20:29) Perhaps one of our great resurrectional hymns, chanted or sung at every Liturgy, is a elaboration of that wonderful "beatitude" spoken by the Lord: "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless One ..." We have "beheld" the resurrection of Christ through the eyes of faith, and are thus enabled to worship the risen Lord as Thomas did - as our Lord and our God!
