A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, March 31, 2013.
“HE SAVED OTHERS, NOW HE SAVES
HIMSELF”
(Homily text: I Corinthians 15: 19 – 26)
(Homily text: I Corinthians 15: 19 – 26)
Standing near the cross on Good
Friday, some who were nearby said about Jesus, “He saved others, he cannot save
himself….” (Matthew 27: 42).
We noted during the homily which was
given at our Good Friday service that this insult is just one of many ironies
that are part of the events of Good Friday….In this accusation, the speakers
acknowledge that Jesus had, indeed, saved others, even as they scoff at His
seeming defeat on the cross.
But if we turn to the events of Easter Sunday, we can see that this insult is turned on its head…Jesus had saved others. Now, His power to save is seen in His power to save Himself, as He rises from the dead.
We shouldn’t be surprised at this
power…we’ve seen it before, in Jesus’ raising of the daughter of Jairus (see Mark
5:21–43 or Luke 8:40–56), and in the raising of Lazarus (see John 11:1–44).
It is the power to create, and to re-create. It is the power over everything, including death.
We might wonder about Jesus’
disciples, as that first Good Friday took place….did they expect Him to be
victorious over all His enemies, using the power they’d seen in His power over
death to conquer and put to flight those who came to arrest Him? After all, Jesus told His disciples that, if
He’d asked His Father, He would have had twelve legions[1]
of angels to protect Him.[2]
But the mystery of Good Friday and Easter, taken together, is that God’s power is held in check. Yes, the Lord could have conquered and destroyed all of those who plotted against Him. Yes, he could have taken on the Roman authorities and all their power. During His trial, John tells us that Jesus told Pilate that “You would have no power over me, unless it had been given to you from above.”[3] The power of God that was available is deliberately set aside.
It is as if an army has withdrawn
from the battle line, allowing the enemy to advance and invade.
And so, taking advantage of the gap
in those defenses, the enemy does advance, and seems to conquer and
defeat. If we look at Good Friday alone,
Jesus’ death looks like defeat, complete and total defeat.
But, as often happens in the course
of human conflict when an army deliberately withdraws from the battle line to
allow the enemy to advance, so it happens also in the course of conflict
between God and the forces of evil: The
enemy advances, only to be closed off and cut off, allowing that enemy to be
defeated.
On Easter Sunday morning, the forces
of evil are surrounded, cut off, and defeated.
They have overreached themselves, trying to seize a prize (Jesus) that
is not theirs to have at all. Never
again with they ever have the opportunity to seize a prize that is not theirs
to have: That prize is Jesus Christ, and
that prize is also all who are baptized into Jesus’ death, who have been raised
to new life in a resurrection like His (see Romans 6:3– 1).
Jesus’ victory over death and the
grave is our victory. His rising from
the dead is the signal that we, too, will rise with Him to new life. No wonder that St. Paul calls Jesus’
resurrection the “first fruits” from the dead (see I Corinthians 15:20–22).
In a real sense, Jesus’ resurrection
is a sort of “down payment” for our own
eventual resurrection…when this life is done, and we are ready to meet God our
Father, then our own rising to new life will be complete. But in the meantime, as we live this life,
knowing that we have the guarantee of new life in Christ changes everything
else, giving us a new perspective with which to meet the challenges of living,
day in and day out. For, as St. Paul
says, “Nothing at all in all creation can separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38)
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
[1] That would amount to about 72,000 angels…a
Roman army’s legion consisted of about 6,000 soldiers.
