May 23, 2004

Scourging with whips in the Roman style could kill a man. Saint Paul was scourged five times and on occasion presumed dead. He endured this because he had been converted by the Risen Christ. Accustomed to forensic testing, Sir Edward Clark wrote: “As a lawyer I have made a prolonged study of the evidence for the first Easter. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling. As a lawyer I accept it unreservedly as the testimony of men to facts that they were able to substantiate.”

Saint Luke was a pioneer historian in a time when historical analysis barely existed. He writes (Acts 1:3) that Jesus “presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Mary Magdalene was startled by her encounter in the garden on Easter morning. She grabbed hold of His feet and then told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” (John 20: 18). Jesus ordered several other women who saw Him to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee (Matthew 28: 9-10). On the Emmaus road He took two disciples by surprise (Luke 24: 12 -32) and then appeared to ten of the Apostles in the Upper Room (Luke 24: 36-43). A week later He appeared to the Eleven in the room although the doors were bolted shut (John 20: 26-31). In deference to human incredulity based on our limited physics, He showed them His wounds. In Galilee a little later He appeared on the shore of the lake, helped them catch 153 fish, fed them, and then talked privately with Peter for a second time (John 21: 1-25; cf. Luke 24: 33-35; 1 Cor. 15:5). He appeared to the Eleven who “saw Him, and worshipped Him” and commissioned them to preach. Five hundred people saw Him on one occasion (1 Cor 15:6) and most of them were still alive to describe it thirty years later (1 Cor. 15:6). Saint James saw him and then his Ascension into glory was witnessed by the disciples near Bethany (Acts 1:9-12): “He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Later, Saint Paul says, “…as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also” (1 Cor. 15:8).

The greatest evidence of the Resurrection is the Church. This Sunday in our little acre of God’s Kingdom young people receive their First Communion and are Confirmed with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus planned this: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Fr. George W. Rutler