The Resurrection
Wednesday 15th April 2020
It’s hard to feel that we have now arrived at
Easter. Lockdown still continues, the financial burdens of this crisis are
increasingly affecting peoples jobs and livelihoods, the frustration of not
being able to see loved ones is causing a great deal of hurt and sadly the
numbers of those with Covid-19 seem so large that it’s easy to forget that
behind each number is a person.
I would like to share something that has given me a
lot of hope at the moment because it expresses artistically something that is
concrete, real and true. It’s an Icon known as ‘The descent into Hell’’.
I have this image on display in the presbytery oratory at the moment because it
draws me into the beautiful mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection. (For those who cannot see the Icon please visit the
parish website)
‘In
the beginning was the Word (Jesus),
the
Word (Jesus) was with God,
and
the Word (Jesus) was God.
He
was with God in the beginning.
Through
him all things came to be,
not
one thing had its being but through him.’ (Jn
1:1-3)
Everything that exists, moves, lives, breathes, is
moulded and formed owes its creation to Jesus, the Word of God. The
Iconographer is reminding us in this image that we can’t push Jesus to one
side, bring him out of his box at Christmas and Easter when it suits us, follow
him when and how we feel like it. No. Every thought, decision, word and action
we make must be in relation to Jesus. To be a Catholic is to walk in his
footsteps, to imitate him, to become another Christ to the world around us so
that, as St. John quotes the Lord:
‘...They
may have life and have it to the full.’ (Jn
10:10b)
The mandorla, the blue almond shape, behind the
Risen Lord represents the Glory of God. Jesus was not just a nice, kind and
polite person. He wasn’t just a good human being who had some wise teachings.
No, No, No. The mandoral reminds us that Jesus was fully God and fully human.
He is one person, fully divine and fully human. In his brilliant white clothing
he is showing us that he, God, has truly risen not symbolically or
metaphorically but that he has truly destroyed the eternal power of death. The
new creation has begun. Eden, that paradise that was once lost by Adam is now
being restored and made new by Christ, the new Adam.
Death attempts to pervade this Icon. It is hard not
to be struck by the pitch black flooring of Hades at the bottom of the picture,
the two stone coffins and the jagged rocks at either side creating the sense
that the viewer is looking into a deep and formidable cavern, a tomb.
‘Death,
where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is
sin and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us the
victory through Our lord Jesus Christ.’
(1 Cor 15:55-57)
Death maybe trying to enter this Icon but as St.
Paul reminds us in his letter to the Corinthians, Jesus has destroyed the power
of death - ‘Death, where is your victory?’ We see this victory under Our Lord’s feet.
Those bronze rectangular objects depict the doors of Hell. The Risen Christ has
kicked them wide open. How? Well look closely at how the doors have fallen – in
the shape of the Cross. Through that great gift of love on Calvary, where Jesus
laid down his very life for us victory was gained. The Lord sacrificed his very
life for us who are saints and sinners. For us who are cold and unfeeling. For
us who are selfish and nasty. For us who judge, criticise and gossip about
others. For us who nurse grudges and bitterness. For us who do not forgive, are
impatient and cruel. For us who are full of our own self importance, lack
genuine humility and worship ourselves rather than the true God. Despite all
these flaws and failings Jesus gladly went to the Cross to forgive us all these
weaknesses, take them upon himself so that one day we too would die to this
life and rise again with him to new and eternal life.
The man and woman that Jesus is lifting up from the
two coffins are Adam and Eve. Through their disobedience, their full and free willingness
to stop listening to God and follow the devil, they have brought the disease of
sin and death into the world. From the black flooring of the Icon, these two
figures are raised up towards the central light of the picture – Jesus Christ,
the Way, the Truth and the Life. Covering the black floor are numerous keys,
locks and chains which are now all busted, unlocked and smashed. Nothing can bar us from Jesus. At every
graveside and at every crematorium, what gives the believer hope is that they
will be reunited with the Lord.
‘
“I am the Resurrection and the life.” It is Jesus himself who on the last day
will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk
his blood.’
(Catechism
of the Catholic Church #994.)
Notice the people around Our Lord. On his right
above Adam is John the Baptist. That brave man who stood out from the crowd,
who did not conform to how the rest of the world thought you should act or
think. That courageous prophet who did not cling to earthly values but to the
hope of a Saviour sent by God to restore the broken world and its damaged
relationship with God.
‘...And
so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.’
(Mk 1:4)
John the Baptist sees in this Icon that his
preaching was not for nothing. Here he sees God’s hope made real, the Saviour
Jesus Christ, the destroyer of Hell and the giver of true life to all
believers. At the end of the lockdown maybe we too could heed John the Baptist
and repent and come closer to God. Come back to Confession, the Sacrament that
he established, and hear him forgive us, heal us and give us new life in the
grace of his love. Pray for those who do not use his gift of Confession because
they remain in the darkness of the tomb.
And finally who are the other two men? From their
heads you can tell that they are kings. King David and King Solomon.
‘But
over the House of David and the citizens of Jerusalem I will pour out a spirit
of kindness and prayer. They will look on the one whom they have pierced; they
will mourn for him as for an only son, and weep for him as a people weep for a
first born child.’ (Zech 12:10)
God had promised King David that his dynasty would
last forever and as we know this promise was fulfilled because God always keeps
his promises. Jesus, through Saint Joseph’s guardianship was of the House of
David. Here the king sees the true and rightful heir of the kingdom conquering
the enemy, the devil. The kingdom that Jesus the victor is establishing is not
an earthly political realm but the everlasting Kingdom of God rooted in truth,
mercy, justice, peace and real love. Like John the Baptist, King David
witnesses God’s promise fulfilled.
King Solomon, known for his wisdom, witnesses something
said by the Lord to his disciples in the Gospel.
‘On
Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and
condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.’ (Mt 12:42)
The Queen of the South is more familiar to us as
the Queen of Sheba, especially after the 1959 Hollywood film ‘Solomon and
Sheba’, staring Yul Brynner. She travelled a huge distance to meet King
Solomon because his God given wisdom was world renowned. The Lord told the
disciples that there was someone greater than Solomon before them – Himself,
Jesus. The Lord is God’s wisdom personified. He is Wisdom and Truth. Throughout
history humankind has been seeking and searching for the answers to the great
questions of life. The answers to those questions will always been found in
Jesus Christ. How many of us look elsewhere for solutions to problems or turn
to ourselves in times of crisis? Let’s follow the example of the Queen of Sheba
and turn to the Lord instead. Let us pray and ask him for help, for guidance
and wisdom. King Solomon the wise continues to impart wisdom upon us by
pointing to Christ in the Icon and saying quite simply ‘Behold Truth Himself.’
Keep praying, keep hoping, keep trusting and keep
believing in the Risen Jesus.
God Bless
Fr.
O’Brien