St. Paul in his captivity tells Timothy, “The word of God is not chained.” (2Tim 2,9) The Incarnate Word also could not be chained by death. There is an incredible power in life. God created life and made human persons for life. He did not create death, nor does he cause the death of any person, nor does he will that any person would be condemned to death. God sent his Son Jesus into the world that the world might be saved through him. John the evangelist tells us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (Jn 3,16ff)
God’s love has the power to bring life and to save. Believing in the name of the Son of God has power to deliver us from the condemnation of death and to establish us in eternal life. Jesus tells his beloved friend Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11,25f) If we dwell in the love of God and believe in the name of his Son Jesus who he sent into the world, we will know salvation. There is power in our faith, power in our prayers and power in our love. The kingdom of God is about the power of life. Jesus was not sent into the world to just talk to people, he was sent with the power to heal, to forgive sins and to give life. St. Paul tells the Corinthians: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” (1Cor 4,20) Jesus is sent into the world with the power to save us. Salvation is the power of God’s love at work, the power of the obedience of the Son to the mission of the Father, and the power of the Spirit to bring new purpose, direction and meaning to life. There is a power in the truth to set us free. The Spirit comes upon the Apostles as a powerful force, a loud noise and a strong driving wind. There is no tomb on earth that can contain the power of life in Jesus.
In the gospel account of the resurrection given by St. John the Beloved, the two apostles, Peter and John race to the tomb upon hearing that it stands empty. They went to sleep in the night believing in the power of death to defeat Jesus and his mission. But when they arrive at the tomb, they first see that the burial cloths have been cast aside and the one that covered Jesus head was neatly rolled up in a separate place. The tomb of Jesus is filled with light and good order. There is no stench of death or corruption. Jesus has freed himself from the bondage of death and the large rock that had been rolled in front of the tomb to seal it was no match for the power of the Lord of life to toss it aside. I think that the angels are amazed at how easily we are convinced of the impossibility of removing the obstacles that seal our death. I am sure that Peter and John were amazed at the empty tomb and wondered at the power that could overcome death and walk freely into newness of life. In seeing, they believed in the power of Jesus over death. In believing they are saved from the power of death themselves.
Jesus entered into the tomb clothed in the burial cloths of death and he emerged from the tomb clothed in new life, eternal life and incorruptibility. The burial cloths remained in the tomb but his glorious body entered into eternal life. These are signs of the victory of Jesus over death and his power to be raised up to eternal life. We all have a date with death and its burial cloths that represent our mortality. How can we be saved from death? Do we believe that the stone of the tomb of death can be rolled aside? We are all weakened and disfigured by sin in our lives. Our salvation lies in our being configured to Christ as the Newness of Life, who shows his power over sin and death. St. Paul reminds the Romans: “For all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” (Romans 3,23) We are deprived of glory and the fullness of life because of our sin and disfigurement but we can be given the hope of salvation if we configure ourselves to Christ in newness of life. St. Paul tells the Corinthians: “For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality. And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Cor 15,53-56)
Our victory is in the cross of Christ and in the newness of life that we gain in our baptism into Christ which configures us to him. St. Paul tells the Romans: “Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. We know that the old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin….If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6,3-11)
How do we live in the newness of life? How do we live for God? We must be configured to Christ the Son of God and believe in his power to make all things new. We must live in freedom as the children of God. We must be renewed in heart and mind and think of the things of heaven as our true treasures, and infinitely more valuable to us than the diversions of this world. Don’t empower the flesh but live by the power of the Spirit. We must live guided by the Spirit of love and truth and not by the flesh with its insatiable desires. St. Paul tells the Colossians today: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.” (Col 3,1-4) If we are configured to Christ in mind, heart and soul then we will be transfigured with him in glory when he appears again to us.
So during this time of lockdown in the world, don’t obsessively think of illness and death listening to endless news reports and reading article after article on the pandemic. Don’t empower death. Think of the things above. Think of your spiritual life and the power of God to save us. Remove the stone and empty the tomb of its power and believe in the love of God to heal all our wounds and to raise us up to new life.