REFLECTIONS TODAY
Light and darkness are used as symbols and metaphors in Scriptures.
Light is the manifestation of God’s nature. It is also the essence of all the gifts through which God blesses his creatures.
Darkness, on the other hand, is the rejection of God. It manifests as chaos, bad luck, evil fate, affliction, and—worst of all—sin and death. The paschal mystery—the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus—is not a mere human drama. It has a supernatural dimension.
The evangelist John situates it in the battle between good and evil, light and darkness, God and the forces of evil. Before Jesus’ coming, the forces of darkness have a hold on the world. But Jesus comes as “the light [that] shines in the darkness” (1:5). The darkness has not overcome it (1:5), though it sometimes appears that it has.
Jesus’ enemies plot his death. Judas, one of the Twelve, leaves in the “night” to betray his Master (13:30). Jesus ends up dead and buried in the darkness of the tomb. The Gospel of Easter Sunday begins while it is still dark (20:1).
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb to mourn the dead Master. But she finds the tomb empty and runs to Peter and the Beloved Disciple to report that somebody has taken away the body of Jesus (20:1-2). There is a work of a very famous painter of the two disciples running side by side to the tomb. The picture of the older Peter is one of sorrow and perplexity. He cannot make anything out of this series of tragedies, first the death of Jesus and then the loss of the body. But the face of the Beloved Disciple is lighted by a wondrous realization. He is beginning to understand and believe.
The empty tomb is not the work of any vandal or trespasser. It is an indication that something wonderful has taken place. When the disciple sees the burial wrappings, he believes (20:8). He believes that Jesus will not remain buried in the darkness of the tomb. John comments that the two disciples do not as yet understand the Scripture that Jesus has to rise from the dead (20:9). Even the faith of the Beloved Disciple is still incipient. But there is already a stirring of the good news that he must have shared with Peter. When the two leave the tomb to report to their companions, it must already be morning.
The passage from darkness to light is an appropriate symbol of their experience, which begins in sorrow and ends with stirrings of hope. The light that appears in the horizon is no ordinary light. It is the breaking of the “first morning,” the Easter morning. Incidentally, the title of that painting by a famous artist is “Easter Morning.”
Gospel • Mark 16:1-7 1
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint [Jesus]. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed.
He said to them, “Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.’ ”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.