Magyar Egyház, 1965 (44. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)
1965-03-01 / 3. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 MAGYAR CHURCH Bishop Louis Nagy: CERTAINTY OF EASTER AN EASTER SERMON Text: Matthew 28:6 — “He is not here; for he has risen, as he said, Come, see the place where he lay.” The bells of Easter are pealing. The Christian world is celebrating the resurrection of Christ. How good it is to see that you are there in the Easter congregation and the devotion of your soul becomes a wing on which the prayer of gratitude soars to the throne of God. My soul embraces you, my brother, if you come to church today to give thanks to God for the faith of the resurrection and eternal life. I look into your eyes with love, you who were brought here only through custom or through a father’s tradition. I believe that even in the dry desert of your soul, the burning bush of faith may burst up into flames. But today, I look especially for you who come here because you would like to believe, because you would like to look into the empty Easter tomb, because you desire to receive the Easter assurance, instead of the torturing unbelief of Easter, and would like to calm your heart as Thomas did, who touched the sacred wound of the living Christ. The Word of God from the lips of the angel of the Lord engraves upon our hearts this Easter command: “Come, see the place where the Lord lay!” There is no assurance of Easter until we look into the empty tomb of the Risen Christ! Everybody has his own opinion of Easter and the resurrection. One man does not believe it, another would like to believe it, a third is the happy man who has received the invaluable gift of God that he has had the privilege to look into the empty Easter tomb, he who knows that we have a living Christ, who is victorious over death, whom he has met or will meet, who goes before him to the sunny Galilee of eternal happiness. A curious child or a thinking friend may stop us on our way of life and ask us what we believe about the resurrection. You start to explain that all the frozen dead trees will blossom after winter in the victorious spring. But, alas, spring passes into autumn and winter comes again. Still my soul yearns for an eternal spring. Did you ever see a beautiful butterfly flying upward to the blue sky on a sunny day? “Look it symbolizes the resurrection” — your soul shouts! From the silky coffin of the repulsive caterpillar, awakens the colored-winged butterfly which flies toward the sun and bathing in the chalices of the flowers, that one which crawled upon the ground in its former existence. Though the multi-colored butterfly lives until the leaves of the trees fall to the ground, yet it gives birth only to caterpillars. My soul is looking for something quite different.. . I need certainty, assurance. Let someone give me something of Easter, of the resurrection that will make my heart courageous so it will not be afraid of death and with holy conviction can sing, believe and confess the Easter hymn: “Jesus lives and I will live also!” The Lord Jesus Christ, who proved His power by thousands of miracles, who raised the dead, — could not make His disciples nor His enemies believe, that He would rise from the dead. When He told about His death He always added that He would rise again. How interesting it is that the disciples did not remember these things. The Jewish leaders remembered them but did not believe them. They sent the soldiers to the tomb to prevent the stealing of His body, so that no news of His resurrection would be heard. But how would the disciples dare to steal His body? Especially since the tomb was so well guarded by soldiers. There was no sadder host in the world, than the little group of disciples who from a happy Palm Sunday through the night of Maundy Thursday came to the sorrow of Good Friday, when not only their Master died, but with Him all their hopes and all their dreams. For them the world ended there on the cross of Golgotha. The stars fell, the sun burned itself out and darkness came upon their souls when He who loved them so much died. This Jesus whom they thought would be a king and would sit on a golden throne. Instead of the golden throne, they nailed Him on a rugged cross. The same crowd who shouted: “Hosannah” to Him, later cried: “Crucify Him.” Hatred seemed to win over love, the evil of man won over the unspeakable goodness of God. Everything was finished, finished forever for them. Possibly their turn would come too, because they had walked with Him. In their fear they locked the doors and in their spirit lived over and over again those hours of horror. Who would want to steal the dead hero of a lost battle when they could not find a more decent resting place anywhere than where He lay. There never was a more desperate group than the disciples of Jesus. Let us read the reports of the Gospels. They did not expect any resurrection. When the angel declared the fact of a new world creation: “He is not here, He is risen!” What great fear descended upon them! They did not believe each other. The Easter story repeats over and over again that the d:sciples did not believe it. They thought it was an “idle tale.” Jesus had to convince them personally. The disciples are the eternal unbelievers for whom the experience of Thomas is necessary. We all need the assurance of Easter, otherwise we will always remain men of Holy Saturday.
