๐
๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ’๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ค
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฅ ๐, ๐๐๐๐
Dear Parishioners,
Grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
The angel addresses the women, telling them that Jesus has risen. The angel then shows them the empty tomb and instructs the women to tell the disciples about Jesus’ resurrection, and to ask them to join Jesus in Galilee. As they are rushing away to tell the disciples, filled with awe and joy, they suddenly see Jesus, who greets them. They fall down before him, clasping his feet, and he says: โDo not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there,”
The real drama of this report lies beyond the surface details. One of Matthew’s intentions in his gospel is to show how the new life Jesus brings upsets the older, unjust order of things. Matthew depicts Jesus as the herald of true equality for all human beings. This theme runs throughout Matthew’s gospel, and is seen clearly in the resurrection story. It is significant that Jesus appears initially to women. Both Jesus and the angel ask the women to be the first witnesses to what has happened, and then to go and tell the men. Remember that in Israel at that time the witness of a woman was not legally admissible – it simply didn’t count! So by addressing the women first, Jesus is rejecting that old inequality and restoring their true dignity.
In a way, this is the continuation of what Matthew begins to imply when he tells of how the shepherds, another group of marginalized people, come to visit the infant Jesus. The truth that Matthew is trying to hammer home is that Jesus came to give all neglected people their rightful place in the world.
When Jesus says he wants the disciples to meet him in Galilee, he calls them โbrothers.” Of course, this also means that the women he speaks to are โsisters” of himself and the disciples. Some commentators make much of the fact that Jesus is, for the first time, directly referring to people as his “brothers,” because from that first Easter onwards we all form one family – the family of God, in which all are equal.
Have a blessed Holy Week and a happy Easter Season!
๐ ๐๐ฃ. ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ฆ, ๐.๐.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐
๐๐:
๐ณ๐๐๐ 24:34
“๐ป๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐
๐ฐ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐, ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐
๐ท๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.”
