Easter can be proclaimed in many ways. It can be proclaimed by nature when the deathly stillness of winter is reversed. A similar revitalizing charges Christ’s body. It can also be proclaimed by the Scriptures as the risen Christ speaks to his disciples. To hear the Easter proclamation today, let us turn first to nature, then to the Gospel.
Nature. St. Francis of Assisi understood how nature speaks of the resurrection in its (or her) own way. At this season of the year, plants and grass, “dead” all winter long, come to life in a riot of green and other colors. The days grow longer with brilliant and welcome sunlight. Winter’s numbing and discomforting cold retreats before the warm rays of the sun.
These are all manifestations of life. Cold, darkness, and stasis are all marks of death. Their opposites – warmth, light, and movement – are all marks of life. Nature proclaims that the life that you see in plants and animals is allied to the force that raised Jesus from the dead. The One who created the world and instituted the cycle of life and death raised Jesus from the dead to live. We are used to seeing death in the world, in the form of hatred, frustration, injustice, natural disasters, illness and death. We are less used to seeing life in the world, in the form of the triumph of the just, virtue rewarded, and the long and beautiful lives of the upright. We did not see with our own eyes the resurrection of the Jesus from the dead. We believe it, though we did not see it. But we do see the life, light, and warmth of spring with our very own eyes. That’s why nature’s proclamation of Easter is so important. When you see the reanimation of nature today, remember that it is the same life-ward thrust that brought Jesus to life and has brought you to life. Our God is a God of life, who will not let death definitively end our life and community.
John. The Gospel makes it clear we have received a great gift. We are receivers, not agents. “As the father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” We become part of the loving exchange between Father and Son that almost defines the Fourth Gospel A couple of sentences later, Jesus tells his disciples, “You are my friends (Greek philoi), no longer slaves (Greek douloi). It’s an important distinction. A slave carries out orders; a friend embraces his desires and eagerly carries them out. The Greek word for “friend,” philoi, also has a passive sense, “one who is loved,” which the English word “friend” does not quite capture. It is an attitude that Jesus has toward us, not a task we have to do. Nature and God’s biblical word remind us as the Easter season comes to an end that we have truly shared in new life.