Second Sunday of Easter 2022

 

Second Sunday of Easter 2022

John 20:19-31

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

Easter is more than a liturgical season in our Christian calendar; it is a call to Life, to recreation, to rebirth. It coincides with the beginning of spring and reveals the presence of God in nature through the blossoming of life on earth. In our Christian tradition, this season is preceded by the painful event of the cross leading us to a moment of death, emptiness, darkness, and of expectation for the first sprout of life, the first fruit of God’s creation, the risen Jesus.

On the first Sunday of Easter, a group of women disciples, defying death, dared to go to Jesus’ tomb where they found the good news of the risen Jesus. These women, apostles of Jesus, immediately proclaimed the good news to the group of disciples who remained in hiding, but they did not believe the women. Now that evening has fallen over Jerusalem, they remain in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.  The traumatic experience of Jesus’ execution has paralyzed them, and they are afraid to suffer Jesus’ fate. Fear and anguish prevent them from seeing that Life has blossomed.  Amid this dark moment, Jesus comes to his disciples who have locked themselves up, and he greets them, “Peace be with you." What an endearing and calm greeting in the midst of such anguish! Then, Jesus shows them his hands and side with the marks of suffering produced by the evil system that rules the world. These marks, however, are now signs of victory over death, over evil power; they are the signs of the renewal of Life!

 As the disciples rejoice upon seeing the risen Jesus, they learn the true meaning of Easter—the open proclamation of an abundant life for all.  Once again, he says, “Peace be with you.” And adds, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20,21-23).  Jesus is speaking about forgiving and retaining sins. The term sin in English comes from the Greek amartía which can be defined as “error of judgment” and “aiming error”. It is sin (amartía) that leads people to fail at life, to live meaningless lives, broken lives, full of pain and suffering. In our Christian tradition, the word sin (amartía) is usually interpreted as having “failed morally”. What if Jesus meant “brokenness” rather than moral failing?  On the other hand, the Greek version of the same text does not use the verb “to forgive” but “to remit” as to remit a debt, to reset it to zero, to cancel it. Thus, Jesus is sending his community to restore and reinstate all in God’s creation. What an amazing vocation Jesus’ disciples have in this world!

Dear sisters and brothers, the manifestation of the risen Jesus in his community brings the sign of the new creation.  In the first creation, God breathed the breath of life into the first humans’ nostrils, and now we witness Jesus breathing on his disciples and giving them the Holy Spirit, the Breath of Life!!

The community of disciples is now participating in a new creation and becoming a new humanity with the vocation to bring reconciliation and restoration to the broken of this world. Those who receive the Holy Spirit are now called to proclaim restoration to all who live in sin, those who have failed at life, those who live broken, in pain and suffering. 

Sisters and brothers, today, just as Easter proclaims the new creation in Jesus, it also reminds us of those who live in sin, those who have lost the way, those whose lives are shattered; those whose lives are daily threatened by the empire that crucifies God's creation. How can we put an end to the sin our world, but by our proclamation of the new creation and our vocation of reconciliation, and restoration?

Today, Easter sends us to proclaim Life, to resist pain and suffering, to challenge death, and wait for the blossoming of the bud of Life in all daily opportunities. The grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, has sprouted and bears much fruit. Alleluia! Jesus is risen!