Homily on Easter Sunday, Year C, 2022

The Resurrection Of Jesus Actually Happened

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on Easter Sunday, Year C

St. Bridget Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, April 17, 2022

The Resurrection day, famously called Easter Sunday is the most important day in the Church Calendar. It’s the victory day. The day when the Old Enemy is finally defeated and put to his place. As you know, religion and the practice of religion is under serious attack today. Books like “God is not great” by Christopher Hitchens, “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, “Letter to a Christian Nation” by Sam Harris are all published just to undermine the very idea of God and the practice of religion. On TV, people like Bill Maher say religion is stupid and superstitious. On the internet, Christianity is accused of being just another retelling of old mythic story of the dying and rising god found in many ancient cultures. These naysayers insist that the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord is an edifying story, a myth that represent the wishful thinking of the human race. But according to the great teacher of mythology, C.S. Lewis, “Those who claim that the Gospel account are mythic in form haven’t read many myths.” The truth is that there is something qualitatively different between the Gospel stories and the myths. Mythic stories often begin with phrases like “once upon a time…” or  “in that time,” or “in a galaxy far away.” They speak about general truths, about the rhythms of life and how they affected, for instance, the Egyptians in such a fundamental way. It is about the rhythms of growth and development in agriculture. It is about the emergence of the Pharaohs as the governors of Egypt. The Dionysus myth simply speaking is about the growth of the vine, grapes and formation of wine, which is a key element in the life of the ancient Greeks. 

A distant and casual look at the texts of the Gospels reveals that Jesus is not a mythic figure like Dionysus or Hare Krishna. How come? Because he exists at a very particular time in history. In Luke’s Gospel we hear that he came into the world when Quirinius was the governor of Syria, and Augustus the emperor of Rome. Those are specific  people whose existence can independently be verified. In addition, Jesus came of age during the reign of Herod and Herod son, Antipas. These figures can also be verified historically. More to it, Jesus was, as we recite in the creed week after week, crucified under a very particular Roman official, named Pontius Pilate, whose existence can independently be verified. There are coins that bear the inscription of Pontius Pilate. In order words, there is no attempt to place Jesus in some vague and indefinite period. As a matter of fact, there is every attempt to identify him specifically. 

With this mind, let’s turn to the account of his Resurrection. Those who say that his Resurrection is one of the ancient stories of the death and rising of ancient gods should read the account carefully in the Gospel. We hear of a very particular individual, Mary Magdalene, that’s Mary of Magdala, a little town on the sea of Galilee. We hear of Mary the wife of Joses. These women came to the tomb. We also hear of another particular individuals, Peter and John who ran to the tomb, one out-pacing the other. Why would the author of John pay particular attention to this detail? It must have vividly been remembered. Mythic stories will not bother to know who got to the tomb first and who out-ran the other. When you listen to someone tell a story about what happened to them, they will include little details like that. Our Gospel today even tell us of the peculiar arrangement of the burial cloths. If this were a generic mythic tale of the death and rising god, the writer wouldn’t bother including such little details. They won’t fuss with how the burial cloths were arranged. So, the detailed account of what was seen at the tomb is an indication of what was historically experienced and what was vividly remembered. 

Furthermore, in our second reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter speaks of Jesus ministry’s in Galilee, of his eating and drinking with the Apostles after his resurrection from the dead. A mythic composer would not bother to include such details. Now, what is most convincing about Jesus’ Resurrection is this: The risen Jesus had witnesses— Peter, Paul, James, Matthew, Thomas, and the rest, who went to the end of the world and to their death declaring the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection. Here is the question for you: why are there no missionaries for Horace? Why didn’t anyone go around the world and to their death declaring the truth of Horace? How come there were no missionaries of Dionysus? How come nobody went to the ends of the world and to their death declaring the truth of Dionysus? The answer is easy! And it is not a judgement on anybody at all. The answer is because they were not real figures. People who told their stories knew it. They were not trying to deceive anybody; they knew they were trading in mythic language that were evocative of the natural necessities of the rhythm of nature. But this Jesus, risen from the dead had witness who vividly remembered him, who vividly remembered his terrible death and who vividly remembered his unnerving Resurrection. That’s the difference of Easter. That’s what debunks the lie being told by these haters of Christianity. That’s what convinces us that we are not dealing with one more account of the ancient story of the dying and rising of mythic gods. And it is because of these witnesses, their experiences and the stories they told that we gather here today to celebrate that God has done something unrepeatable, remarkable, distinctive, and unique. God interrupted the rhythm of nature in raising his Son from the dead. Victory is forever won. That makes all the difference and that’s why we gather to celebrate. 

Happy Easter, everybody!