Third Sunday of Lent

The disciples had thought that they were chosen to be part of a story of the return of the king to Israel. The story was going to take in the overthrow of the Romans and the corrupt, oppressive order. The centre of the story for them was Jesus whom they loved, who had revealed God who was mercy beyond measure, who set people free. Then that story came to a calamitous end with his cruel execution. Hope, life died.

Now they discover that the story is not ended, but they do not know what this means. The world has changed around them; the story of which they are a part is bigger than they could have imagined; they cannot grasp it: ‘their joy was so great that they could not believe it, and they stood dumbfounded.’

Jesus is risen beyond hope. He is not only messiah, saviour, king of Israel, he is Lord. As Thomas will exclaim, he is Lord and God. But they are only just groping towards that truth. Jesus helps them by showing how the whole story of Israel, of creation, has been pointing to him, his life, death and resurrection. There were signs throughout the history of God’s Chosen People, but no one could have put these together without him. He had to come, to live, teach, heal; he would suffer, die and rise; and only then would the Jesus-shape of history be revealed.

The disciples would come to discover that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only their story, the story of their people, the story of everyone and everything has a Jesus-shape to it and to its end. Sin and death has been conquered by God’s Son – far greater enemies than Romans or Sadducees! As St Paul will write: all of creation itself has been waiting for this!

We, by our baptism, are active partners with God’s Son in the unfolding of the story. Everyone and everything is part of it whether they know it or not, but he calls us friends because he has made known to us everything he has learnt from his Father. His Spirit is poured out upon us.

The Resurrection is a power which has permeated the world. The Holy Father writes beautifully of the Resurrection: ‘Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force.’

Christ’s resurrection everywhere calls forth seeds of that new world; even if they are cut back, they grow again, for the resurrection is already secretly woven into the fabric of this history, for Jesus did not rise in vain. May we never remain on the sidelines of this march of living hope!

We cannot see the seeds growing and sometimes we do see sprouts being cut back, but faith calls us to believe that the seeds of love, of service, of compassion never fall to the ground in vain.

No single act of love for God will be lost, no generous effort is meaningless, no painful endurance is wasted. All of these encircle our world like a vital force.

We believe this because Jesus who is love, is Lord and is risen. Our loving is never in vain because of the victory of his resurrection. Alleluia!