Our Lord has Risen
The Joy of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ is in the air. The euphoria is palpable. The Jews thought Jesus Christ’s passion and death would be the end of Him and His mission. But to the glory of God, it did not go as they planned and wished. Alleluia! He has indeed risen. The Gospel account of Mark that is read today tells us that He has not only risen but has appeared to Mary Magdalene. She went and announced the good news to Christ’s apostles/companions, who were still mourning and weeping and under lock and key for fear of the Jews. Interestingly, they did not believe her and the testimony of other disciples who reported that Christ had risen. One would have thought they would be excited at the news of Christ being alive; instead, they were filled with doubts and unbelief.
Jesus Christ later appeared to the eleven apostles. He rebuked them for their hardness of heart and unbelief at accepting the message that he had risen. However, He commissioned them and gave them a mandate.
Christ’s Mandate
Jesus Christ’s mission was to preach the good news, the Gospel of good tidings. The good news is about God, doing His will, showing His works, and making Him known to people. As aptly put by Luke, Christ’s mission was “to bring glad tidings to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.” It was “to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Lk 4:18-19). When Jesus Christ appeared to His apostles, He gave them the mandate to continue His mission and told them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Proclaiming the Gospel and preaching the good news was a way of bearing witness to Jesus Christ, who has done the will of His Father and has been raised from the dead by God, His Father. Jesus Christ had also told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The first reading showed Peter and John bearing witness to Jesus Christ. It showed them fulfilling the mission and the mandate given to them by Jesus Christ. Thus, through the power of Jesus Christ, they performed the miracle of healing a Crippled Beggar. They boldly testified to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ before the Sanhedrin, the High Priest, the leaders, the elders, and the scribes and asserted that it was through the power of Jesus Christ that the Crippled Beggar was healed. Even when they were warned to stop preaching in the name of Jesus Christ, Peter, and John replied that they would obey God rather than men and that it would be impossible for them not to speak about what they had seen and heard.
We are Witnesses Too
We do not have a lesser mandate than the apostles. Through our baptism, we received the grace to be called children of God and the mandate to continue the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, we are called to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. If we are sincere to ourselves, we know we have received so much love, benevolence, and blessing from God. We have experienced so much of God’s goodness and favors. We are, therefore, charged to testify to the goodness of God. Like the apostles, we can also say it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have experienced, heard, and learned. Indeed, such an attitude is a true act of bearing witness to the eternal Holy Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Always remember that Jesus loves you!
