The Stone is Rolled Away, the Tomb is Empty (Easter Vigil B, 2021)

Gen. 1:1-2:2 is the account of the first creative activity of God. It’s particularly interesting to note that the first thing that God created was LIGHT. On the first day of creation, God had something to conquer before He could go on with the work of creation; and that was DARKNESS. He conquered darkness by the creation of light. Let’s take another look at the word “darkness”. The “darkness” that God drove away, was it mere darkness or something else? The original languages of the Bible (Hebrew and Greek) may help us understand this. Genesis is written in Hebrew; and the Hebrew word for darkness is “choshek” (which primarily means “gloom”; the word “gloom” does not just refer to physical darkness which we are used to). In Greek, the word “darkness” is translated as “skotos”, meaning “sorrow”. In Matthew 8:12, when Jesus talks about being cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, there the word used for “darkness” is “skotos” (which means sorrow). 

So, the darkness that was defeated at the beginning of creation was not just a mere patch of physical darkness but a darkness of sorrow, despair and gloom. Whichever way you look at it, “darkness”, as a word or state, hardly means anything good, lovely or acceptable especially in its figurative sense. Those days, the dogs we had at home used to bark endlessly whenever there is power outage. And someone said that it barked at evil spirits. Maybe, those evil spirits were non-existent during the day or when there was light. Simply, the thickness of the darkness psychologically induced the dog to bark whenever there was power outage. Darkness is intimidating. If a dog could bark at mere physical darkness, just imagine how much more terrible other forms of darkness could be: especially spiritual and moral darkness.     

In Genesis, God dispersed the first darkness that enveloped the earth. Later, Adam and Eve introduced another form of darkness: the darkness of sin and sorrow. What it means is that from the time of creation till now, God has been at the forefront of dispersing darkness that seemed to have enveloped creation. It was for the sole purpose of dealing with darkness that He sent the prophets. For this same purpose, He sent His own substance, His own Son who is Light. In 1 John 1:9, Jesus is described as the “True Light that enlightens everyone” and in John 1:5, we are told that “the Light shines in darkness but the darkness will never overcome it.” Throughout His earthly ministry, there was a strong tension between darkness and light. The Jewish leaders, the scribes, the Pharisees, the soldiers, and others forces of darkness fought tooth and nail to snuff out the Light (to kill Jesus and wipe out His influence). 

We followed this drama of persecution of light which reached its climax during the Holy Week: the Light suffered at their hands; the Light was crucified; the Light died. But this is not the end of the story! If the story ended just like that, then we have no message; we are the most miserable of all peoples; we have no hope and our faith is in vain. We waited in faith and hope; and our hope never disappointed us, for Christ has risen indeed; at last, the Light is victorious over darkness. Death is now powerless before Him! Christ has risen; His light is shining brightly. Our faith is strengthened; our hope revived. 

In Mk. 16:1-7, something happened: “ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK”. Christ rose from the dead. In Gen. 1, something happened on the first day of creation: light was created and creation began. So, by the resurrection of Christ, there is another creation: we have been recreated; old things are gone. Having been raised with Him, let us seek the things that are above (Col. 3:1). In Romans 6, Paul says that since Christ has risen from the dead, let us now walk in newness of life.

The women, who went to the tomb of Jesus, asked, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” They looked again and saw that the stone is gone. Entering the tomb, they saw it was empty. The “stone” stands for hopelessness, desperation and despair. We hit the “stone” wall when we have got to the dead-end of our moral struggle. Look again, you’ll see that the “stone” is rolled away. There is now hope for us because Christi is risen. The “tomb” which stands for “defeat” and “decay” is now empty. The “emptiness” of the tomb clearly signals that our victory is assured. If the stone of the tomb can be rolled away for LIFE to emerge, know that God can still bring forth life out of any rottenness.