“And the god asking, said to the women: Fear no you; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Appear, and discover the place where the Lord was laid. And going swiftly, tell ye his followers that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee; there you may discover him. ” —Matthew 28 :5-7
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Content Easter, a forgive Pascha to you all! Now we Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, His glory over sin, death, and the dragon, a glory in which we communicate. In the ancient tales, gods take on the types of males to abuse or domineer over mortals. In the real history of Christ, but, God became guy that He might redeem us and give us a share in His holy life, both on world and most especially in God.
On this greatest of Christian divine time, I would like to share a Gospel mirror inspired by the remark of St. Jerome, the wonderful Biblical scholar of the Church’s earlier years who dedicated his life to studying God’s expression. How better to understand the Resurrection than to read accounts of it in the Gospels themselves, with the aid of a wise theologian ( for, as 2 Peter 1:20 says, “no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation” ).
St. Jerome, arguably the greatest Biblical scholar in history, translated the Bible from its original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into Latin ( which at that time was the common or “vulgar ” language, hence the name “Vulgate” ). He spent many years on this labor of love, consulting other researchers, studying the workings of each vocabulary, and when exactly as possible transferring each poetry into the popular tongue of Latin. His translation, however, is so great that it was the regular among Catholics for over a thousand decades. “Ignorance of the Bible, ” said St. Jerome, “is knowledge of Christ. ”
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By translating the Bible into Latin, he hoped to bring people to learn and enjoy the Word of God. In his remark on the Ascension as related in Matthew’s Gospel, we see Jerome’s multi-faceted interpretation, explaining both the material and spiritual significance of the event, noting how Christ is entirely people and yet even God, ruling character and renewing it through His Death and Resurrection:
Our Lord is one and the same Son of God and Son of man. According to both natures, god and body, he shows signs, now of his glory, then of his sincerity. This is why in the present passage [ Matthew 28:2-3], though it is a man who was crucified, buried, and shut in the tomb, whom a stone holds back in opposition, nevertheless the things that are done outside show him to be the Son of God: the sun takes flight, darkness falls, the earth quakes, the curtain [of the Temple ] is torn, the rocks split, the dead are raised, there are services of angels, which even from the beginning of his birth proved that he was God … Now, too, an angel comes as a guard of the Lord’s tomb. By his beautiful clothes he expresses the splendor of the magnificent one …
The soldiers are absolutely terrified with fear … yet the angel consoles no them but the ladies: ‘Do not be scared. ’ Let them be frightened, he says. Panic endures in those in whom adheres faith. But as for you, since you are seeking the murdered Jesus, learn this: he has been resurrected and has fulfilled his claims.
At Christ’s death, the Gospels tell us that the sky grew dark ( Mark 15:33, Luke 23 :44 ), there were earthquakes ( Matthew 27 :51 ), and dead people walking abroad ( Matthew 27 :53 ). Character was at war with itself and human, as crime for a moment seemed to defeat.
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But on Easter day, the sun blazed forth, spirits spoke to people, and Christ walked abroad—not an animated lifeless body, but fully intact and never to die afterwards. Sin was conquered, suicide vanquished, and both the natural and divine were in harmony. That does not imply that there were no longer criminals, of course. Just after the Ascension, the Imperial soldiers lied about what they saw at the monument and the Israeli officials bribed the troops to rest. But no more had such wicked people have the final say. Salvation is now possible for all, Jew and Greek, male and female, slave and free ( Galatians 3:28 ). If we stay true to Christ, we too may one day fall again with exalted body to like everlasting bliss. And so we affirm, as the old Latin and Byzantine response goes, that Christ is risen—indeed He is risen!
