How To Prove Christ Has Risen

HOW TO PROVE CHRIST HAS RISEN

Acts. 10:34, 37-43; Jn. 20:1-9

The Church has always celebrated and proclaimed the resurrection of Christ from the dead.  I stand here today quietly convinced of the truth of that message.  But I cannot prove it.  If you came to Mass today in search of some conclusive evidence to prove that Jesus rose from the dead, then you are almost certain to go home disappointed.

To my knowledge, no such proof is available.  It would be available if Jesus Christ was to stand in front of us and tell us He is the Risen Christ.  But this is not going to happen.  Should the risen Lord appear to us at this moment it would not surprise us because we believe He is risen.  Isn't it true that some of the most important things in your life and mine cannot be proved?  Take for example the love for your spouse, your children, your parents or your friend.  Suppose your son were to ask you to prove your love for him.  How would you go about doing that?

You might remind him of the nights you sat up with him when he was sick.  Or you could mention the many times you joined in his computer games and helped him with his homework.  You could tell him the number of times you took him to see his favourite football team.  You could show him your cheque stubs and show him how much money you had spent on him over the years.  All these things would be signs of the love you have shown him.  But a sceptical child, who felt unloved, could argue that all of this investment of time and money was nothing more than an attempt to make yourself look good in the eyes of others.

He might even call it an attempt on your part to control and manipulate his life.  He could probably point out to you that some other parents had invested more time and more money in their children than you had invested in him.  The truth of the matter is that you and I cannot prove our love to anyone, and we would be foolish to try.  The only thing we can do is keep on loving them and hope that somehow, they will figure it out and come to believe it themselves.  So, it is with the resurrection of Christ.  No one has ever proved it to me, and I can never prove it to anyone else.  It is one of those things that lies beyond the realm of proof.  Each person must discover the truth of it for himself or herself.  If the resurrection of Christ is true, we need to know it and experience His presence and power in our lives.

To those of us who accept the Easter message as truth, what meaning does it have for our lives?  For one thing, it means that Jesus has the final endorsement of God.  Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles records part of a sermon Peter preached to a group of Gentiles.  It was a simple message, briefly recounting the ministry of Jesus -how He went about doing good and how God was obviously with Him.  Then Peter compressed the death and resurrection of Jesus into one powerful statement.  He said, "They killed Him by hanging Him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised Him to life. "

Clearly implied in that sentence is a clash of wills - human wills against the divine will.  Peter was saying that the cross was man's doing and the resurrection was God's doing.  The cross was man's way of saying, "We don't agree with this man.  We don't like the things that He says.  We don't approve of the way that He lives.  He doesn't belong in our world.  The resurrection was God's way of saying, "The life and teachings of Jesus, my Son, have My unqualified approval.  He is the centre of the universe and the future of the world belongs to Him and His way of living.  On Good Friday the court of human will condemned Jesus, rejected His way of life and put Him to death.  But on Easter Sunday, the Supreme Judge of the Universe, reversed that decision and raised Him from the dead.

The implications of that are sure to have a great significance in our lives.  It means that Jesus is for real.  He belongs here.  When we give ourselves to Him, when we follow His path of peace and love, we are not playing games.  This is real life, the kind of living on which God has placed His stamp of approval.

Today, l say to you, 'Christ is risen.'  If anyone's response is, "O yeah!"  My answer is, I cannot prove it.  You must make that discovery for yourself.  But if anyone's response is, "Then what?" my answer is, "Follow Him, give yourself wholeheartedly to His cause for this is what life is all about.  Jesus has all the answers, for He is God.

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us belief in Your resurrection.  We beg You to grant it to those who do not believe.  Thank you for saving us from sin and death and lead each one of us to Your home in heaven.

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