Homily for Easter Sunday
April 5, 2026
John 20: 1-9
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx
Christian Brothers, St. Joseph’s Residence, N.R.[1]
Peter & the Beloved Disciple
at the Empty Tomb
(Giovanni Francesco Romanelli)
“The other disciple also went in, … and
he saw and believed” (John 20: 8).
St. John’s account about Mary of
Magdala’s coming to Jesus’ tomb and finding it empty differs a bit from what
Sts. Matthew, Mark, and Luke report. One
consistency, however, is that neither Mary nor the other women named by
Matthew, Mark, and Luke and implied by John when Mary tells Peter and the
beloved disciple, “We don’t know where they put him” (20:2)—none of them
expected to find an empty tomb, nor do they know what to make of it. In some of the gospels, no one believes the
women when they tell the apostles that the tomb’s empty and they’ve seen angels
there.
In John, both Peter and the beloved
disciple—who may be the same John who later wrote this gospel—hurry to the tomb
to see for themselves. Wouldn’t we have
done that, too? It was unexpected,
extraordinary, unbelievable.
The 1st evidence that Jesus truly rose
from the dead is precisely that it was unbelievable. No one, not even his closest friends,
expected it would happen, in spite of his 3 or more predictions of his passion,
death, and rising.
Mary of Magdala’s supposition is that
someone’s removed Jesus’ body. In the
next scene in John’s Gospel, that comes out again when Jesus approaches her,
she mistakes him for the gardener, and she asks him where he’s taken the body
(20:14-15).
John also tells us that at that point
Mary had seen 2 angels in the tomb who asked her why she was weeping (20:11-13). Angels also appear to the women in the other
gospels. Only John reports the hard
physical evidence: the neatly rolled
burial cloths left on the shelf in the tomb.
Grave robbers don’t take such trouble.
They grab what they want and run.
Here we might observe that Matthew (27:45),
Mark (15:33), and Luke (23:44) inform us that as Jesus is dying on the cross
“darkness came over the whole land,” and John has noted that Mary came to the
tomb “while it was still dark” (20:1).
The light of the world has been extinguished, and Satan, prince of
darkness, seems triumphant.
Arriving on the scene, Peter observes
the shelf where Jesus had been laid, empty except for those cloths. By now dawn has broken and it’s light enuf to
see into the tomb (Matt 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1). Peter apparently is as puzzled as Mary
Magdalene. Not so the beloved
disciple. He sees and believes.
That statement is noteworthy in John’s
Gospel. On 5 previous occasions—the
wedding in Cana (2:11) and 4 times as reactions to Jesus’ teaching (2:23, 7:31, 8:30, 10:42)—we
were told that his disciples or his listeners “began to believe in
him.” This time it’s not “began.” Faith, at least in the beloved disciple, has
reached its destination.
What has the beloved disciple seen and
believed? That Jesus has risen. He’s defeated death. His light has overcome the darkness—of death,
of sin, of man’s condemnation to hell. “Death
and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns
immortal” (Sequence). It’s true. See and believe.
At the Last Supper—still in John’s
Gospel—Jesus calls his disciples his friends and tells them he’s going to
prepare a place for them with the Father (15:14-15, 14:2-3). It’s true.
See and believe.
Appearing to the 11—Judas didn’t believe and
has gone to a fate worse than death (cf. Matt 26:24)—that same Sunday nite,
Jesus bestows his Holy Spirit on them, and on the whole Church, and empowers
them to forgive sins thru the Holy Spirit (John 20:19-23). Sin, and with it the penalty of death and
damnation, is defeated. See and believe.
By our Baptism, by the Holy Eucharist, by
forgiveness in Reconciliation, we share in Christ’s victory. “You have died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God,” St. Paul reminds us (Col 3:3).
“Everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins thru his
name,” St. Peter teaches (Acts 10:34).
See and believe.
“Christ indeed from death is risen, our new
life obtaining” (Sequence).
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