The Resurrection: A New Vision of Life

 

Homily for Easter Sunday, Year C

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9

Once, in a certain village, a man who had been declared missing for over a decade suddenly returned to his family. They had mourned him, buried an empty coffin, and tried to move on. But then he showed up - not dead, not broken - but alive and well. His return disrupted everything. People asked: “What does this mean? What happens now?” That question - “What does this mean?” - is precisely the question Easter asks us. Jesus was dead. Buried. The tomb was sealed. But now the tomb is empty. And the Risen Christ is alive. What does this mean for us?

The Gospel reading from John 20:1-9 gives us the dramatic encounter at the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene came “while it was still dark” - a detail that is both literal and symbolic. Darkness signifies grief, confusion, and lack of understanding. Peter and the beloved disciple ran to the tomb. The beloved disciple arrived first, but it was Peter who went in. He saw the burial cloths - the signs of death - lying there, but Jesus was not there. John tells us that the disciple who entered “saw and believed” (v. 8), although “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (v. 9). The lesson we learn here is that Resurrection is not just something that happened to Jesus. It is something that happens to those who encounter him. It opens our eyes to a new reality.

In the first reading, Acts 10:34a, 37–43, we find Peter proclaiming boldly what the Resurrection means: “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. But God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear…” (vv. 39–40). Peter’s transformation from a frightened denier to a bold preacher is itself a Resurrection story. The Resurrection gave the apostles - and now gives us - a mission: to be witnesses to life, not just reporters of a past event. Notice Peter’s emphasis: the Risen Christ appeared not to all, but to those chosen to be witnesses. Easter is not a spectacle. It is a summons.

In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul speaks directly to the baptized: “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above…” This is powerful. The Resurrection is not just Jesus’ victory - it is our resurrection, too. We are raised with him. That means Easter invites a radical change in worldview. We are no longer defined by the deathly things of this world - bitterness, revenge, despair, fear. We are invited to live from above: with love, mercy, forgiveness, and hope. This is not escapism. Paul is not telling us to ignore earthly reality, but to interpret it through the lens of the Resurrection.

Let us return to the empty tomb. The empty tomb is God’s exclamation mark in the story of salvation. It declares: “Nothing is impossible with God.” Do you feel trapped by sin or regret? The Resurrection says, you can begin again. Are you mourning a loss? The Resurrection says, death is not the end. Are you stuck in spiritual darkness? The Resurrection says, light will return. Are you discouraged by the evil in the world? The Resurrection says, God wins. Easter is not a one-day event. It is a new way of being. A new identity. A new creation.

Lastly, we were not there when the stone was rolled away. But we, like the beloved disciple, are invited to peer into the tomb, see, and believe. Let Easter awaken in us not just a memory, but a movement. Let the stone that was rolled away from Christ’s tomb be the same stone that is rolled away from our lives and hearts. Amen.