The Light of the Risen Jesus

By Rev. Fr. Leopold Ratnasekera OMI, PhD, ThD

Easter marks the final triumph of Jesus of Nazareth.

He was born a carpenter's son in very humble surroundings. A great star lit up the night of his birth in Bethlehem, known to have been a royal city. He grew up a healthy boy in age, wisdom and grace before God and men. At the age of twelve he had already manifested an extraordinary intellectual acumen that astounded his teachers.

Venturing on to his later youth, he took to the desert to pray, combat evil, meditate and fast to prepare himself for the great mission he was called upon to undertake.

For the next and final three years of his public life, he would set about announcing the 'Year of the Lord'. This period of grace and life would bring healing to the sick, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, make the lame walk and bring freedom to those in chains. And so it was!

Jesus of Nazareth became an itinerant preacher traversing the villages and towns of his land that housed the magnificent city of Jerusalem in the south of Israel, with the great River Jordan running in the middle and the beautiful landscape donning the tranquil Sea board of Galilee. However, by stroke of fate, this land and its people were under the subjugation and yoke of the Roman Empire ruled by Caesar: a Roman colony for all practical purposes.

Not only were they politically rendered subjugate but also financially under a heavy burden of taxation, the tax-collectors being the much maligned Publicans who were a hated lot in Jewish society. They were seen as betrayers of the people for channeling the nation's wealth to the coffers of Imperial Rome.

Liberation

The Jewish race for centuries had yearned for political liberation from the clutches and oppression of Rome and anxiously prayed and awaited the future Messiah who would be their eventual liberator. It is striking that many expected to see signs of his glorious appearance and triumphal conquest that had been prophesied by the noble seers of their religious faith. But, the entire phenomenon was long in coming and a certain sense of frustration had set into the mentality of the people. In fact, the spill-over of this anguish engendered rebellious groups and insurgent movements retaliating against the imperial authority, but only to be ruthlessly decimated by the iron-hand of the colonial power.

In the wake of these messianic expectations came a Messiah of a hither to fore unimagined nature. This was a carpenter's son hailing from Galilee, in the distant north of Palestine. After a 30-year anonymous span, Jesus appeared in his familiar prayer-house of Nazareth and portrayed himself as the Anointed one filled with the Divine Spirit come to bring good news to the poor with restoring of sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, making the lame walk and setting the prisoners free. It was to be a great era spilling over with Blessings and Freedom. This humble son of a carpenter turned out to be an exceptionally itinerant preacher who gathered a close circle of twelve associates, later extending it to a larger seventy, whom he instructed and formed as his disciples and sent out to preach, heal and drive out evil powers. In the course of his three-year ministry, he was hailed by immense crowds that flocked to the open mountains and hills of Galilee, along beaches and finally in the city precincts of Jerusalem where glittered the Great Temple built by Solomon, the pride of the Jewish race, the anchor of their hope and the rallying-point of their aspirations.

The preacher from Nazareth had called for new wine in new wine-skins. People had to be dispassionately open to a new vision of things.

Oppressive

In the mind of Jesus of Nazareth, the understanding of the messianic age was quite different. It was not to be a military campaign to oust an oppressive regime. The kingdom he announced was something spiritual and interior.

His classical Sermon on the Mount that has attracted many a religious thinker and mystic brought in an entirely different world view and understanding of life, freedom and joy.

This Messiah was to take sides with the poor and the oppressed and launch a revolution of love, brotherhood and forgiveness. It was a teaching on accommodation that challenged people to love the enemies as well. It was a culture of brotherhood that made no distinction between races and peoples.

He took into his fond embrace both his fellow-Jews and the so-called Samaritans, which occupied the middle region of Palestine, considered to be pagans and the accursed of God. There were Greek-speaking Jews too in the country, those who were of the cultured class.

In many teachings and gestures, Jesus of Nazareth drove home these lessons with courage and clarity despite heavy opposition and rage.

His parables such as the one of the Prodigal Son who abused the freedom graciously given to him as his right, but eventually left the home, squandered his goods and wealth, leading a reckless life in moral debauchery ending up a pauper eating the food of pigs, was one such.

The parable ends with this prodigal son realising his misery in self-pity and deciding in all humility to trace his steps back to the Father's house, where he really belonged. It was a journey of repentance that won him back the love of the Father that was lost, the warmth of the home he abandoned and the cordial hospitality of the household. This is an unparalleled religious teaching that had touched made many a devout reader of the Bible with a sense of wonder and awe. It shows how justice and mercy can meet in harmony.

The Sermon on the Mount, another classical teaching of great repute glorifies those who are humble, meek, pure of heart and mind and finally those who struggle for the sake of justice and truth. The Parable of the tax-collector who stood at the door of the temple striking his breast and confessing himself to be a sinner had gone home, in the understanding of Jesus, more justified and blessed than the Pharisee who dared to boast of his own good deeds and virtues before God in self-justification whilst despising the tax-collector whom he dubbed as a sinner.

Thus it was, that Jesus of Nazareth had called for a more interior religion which enables authentic worship in spirit and truth and for a culture of life and love that makes room for all, inclusive of one's enemy. One of his last pleas while on the cross was to call on God's mercy and forgiveness on his executioners and murderers.

Galilean

His carefully orchestrated murder planned by a disillusioned religious and political leadership that misguided the masses against the Galilean did not seem to achieve its end: for, the Crucified One had risen from the tomb of death and was keeping company of his disciples: sharing meals with them, strengthening their faith, warding off their fears and commissioning them to continue the work he had begun: preach the Good News, heal the sick, the afflicted and drive out demons of every sort. We see in early Christianity as well as in the medieval ages and at present time, how this work is being continued, though in a world of today, much more complex and complicated than at the time of Jesus of Nazareth. Yet, not even an iota of the human dilemma or the precariousness of human existence seems to spare the minds and hearts of men of this age, so secular, scientific, competitive and consumer in nature. The Risen Lord of Easter is a pledge of hope to all mortals, which instills the message that love is stronger than death, with sin and idolatry never inundating those who tread the paths of truth and justice.

The Light of the Risen Lord brings peace to communities. His presence blesses their sweat and tears and most importantly drives all fear. The dazzling brilliance of his Easter Light ushers in the fragrance of brotherhood, harmony and peace among all people of good-will. It is a pass-over from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom and from death to immortality.