“On the third day, He rose from the dead.” This has been at the core of the Church’s proclamation since the very beginning. So central is it, that St Paul once said that if Christ had not risen from the dead then our whole existence as Christians – not least, our hope – would be undermined (cf 1 Cor 15: 12-20). This does not stop us from asking: what does it all mean?

Put simply, the historical fact of Christ’s rising from the dead means the definitive triumph of good over evil, of love over hate, of justice over injustice, of healing over pain, of the spirit over the body. The resurrection makes no sense apart from the Cross – the apparent triumph of sin and evil in the world over the Innocent One – while the Cross in turn makes no sense apart from the Lord’s self-giving at the Last Supper. That self-giving was the ultimate act of love on the part of the Son of God made man, whose blood would be poured out for the salvation of the world.

To explain the resurrection, Ratzinger, in his Introduction to Christianity, used the Song of Songs: “For love is strong as Death, jealousy relentless as Sheol. .... Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown” (8: 6-7). The human experience of passionate love between bride and groom is the most perfect image of God’s love for us. That love was definitively manifested in the passion and death of Jesus of Nazareth. The torrent of hate that flowed over him – the baptism he longed to undergo – and that finally dispatched him to the underworld (Sheol) could not be the last word. The last word is God’s first word: the Yes of God’s jealous love for us, the Yes of God’s forgiveness, both manifested in his rising from the dead. The Church’s mission is to proclaim God’s love and forgiveness, his mercy and justice, not only in word but in sacrament – and in deed.

The body of the Risen Christ is not, like that of Lazarus or the son of the Widow of Naim, simply a resuscitated body that would one day return to the dust from which it came. Though it could consume food and be touched by others, Christ’s risen body, bearing the marks of the passion, was no longer subjected to the limitations of time and space or indeed material objects such as walls and doors.

The Greek word used to describe the Lord’s appearances is more accurately rendered: He allowed himself to be perceived. Initially the disciples did not recognize him. Mary Magdalene thought she saw a gardener; the disciples on the road to Emmaus only saw a stranger; the Eleven thought they saw a ghost. He had to make himself known to them, opened their eyes to see his real presence. He had to awaken their faith, open the eyes of their hearts. It is with the heart that we truly see (de Saint Exupéry). Only the pure of heart will see God (Mt 5:8).

The mission of the Church is to awaken faith, to be the instrument whereby He can open the eyes of others (through repentance) to his own real presence here and now in word and sacrament. He is now fully present to us – in his risen body and blood, soul and divinity – under the appearance of the bread and wine which he used at the Last Supper to anticipate his death. In the Eucharist, we receive his Body to become his Body, the Church (cf 1 Cor 11: 29). In this way, we already anticipate our own resurrection on the last day when all redeemed humanity (individually and collectively), endowed with a new spiritual body, will be united to God in Christ’s Risen Body.

D. Vincent Twomey, SVD, is the author of Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age, (Ignatius Press 2007) and The End of Irish Catholicism? (Veritas 2003).

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