There are twelve days of Christmas,
but that’s nothing compared to the fifty days of Easter. We can be wishing each other happy Easter and
shouting out our alleluias until May 19th this year, when the Easter
season ends at Pentecost.
But even then, Easter doesn’t
really end, for we are Easter people, a people who have been transformed by the
resurrection of Jesus. So, how have we
been changed? How do we know we have
been changed, that we are, in fact, part of this “Easter people?” The readings this morning give us a clue.
Easter people are people
who see the world – past, present and future – with new eyes, Easter eyes. The two disciples on the way to Emmaus were
quite confused. They knew their history
and the prophets. They knew that God had
promised his people a Messiah, a king from David’s house who would conquer
Israel’s enemies and reign with justice for ever and ever. They had hoped Jesus would be this king, but
their hopes were dashed when Jesus was crucified. They couldn’t see where they could have gone
so wrong.
Then, after the stranger
explains the Scriptures to them, joins them for dinner, and breaks and blesses
the bread, their Easter eyes are opened to see in a new way. They see Jesus not as an earthly king, a
mighty general who conquers Israel’s enemies, but a divine savior who conquers humankind’s
enemy, death itself. They see those past
few, fateful days with eyes of faith.
Peter and John come to the
Temple to pray and see a man who had been crippled since birth. Both of them “look intently” at the man. What do they see? Do they see as they did when Jesus came upon
a man blind from birth in John 9? Do
they simply see this man as a victim of his parents’ sin? No, they see the man in a new way, with
Easter eyes. They see the man as a child
of God, as one for whom Jesus died. They
see him as Jesus saw each person he came across, with eyes of love.
Peter then says something
very odd. Peter asks the man to look at
John and him. The man does so, “expecting
to receive something from them.” The man
doesn’t know it yet, but he is about to become part of the Easter people. He has been primed by Peter to see as all
Easter people see, with eyes of hope.
Like Cleopas and his
companion, like all Easter people, we see our past with eyes of faith. We see the historical Jesus not simply as a
good man who lived, taught and died as all men do, but as the Christ of
faith. We see in the crucifix not an
instrument of torture and death, but a sign of God’s infinite and unconditional
love for each of us.
Like Peter and John, like
all Easter people, we see the world and the people around us with eyes of
love. We see times of great tragedy and
evil not as unmitigated darkness, but as opportunities to shine the light of
God’s love. We see those who hate and despise us not as enemies, but as fellow
sons and daughters of God, fellow creatures in the image and likeness of God, and
though they may not know what they are doing, we see them as fellow objects of
God’s love.
Like the man at the
Beautiful Gate, like all Easter people, we see our future with eyes of
hope. We look to the future not with anxiety over
what we are to eat or wear, but with confidence in God’s benevolent
providence. We see death not as an end,
but as a transition to an eternity with the source of all joy, peace and love.
We are an Easter people,
for we see the past with Easter eyes of faith, the present with Easter eyes of
love, and the future with Easter eyes of hope.
Happy Easter! Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
No comments:
Post a Comment