Daily Reflections ...

Saint John describes the moment in the Gospels where he and Saint Peter went to the tomb and realised that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

If you’re reading this, you likely have had exposure to the Christian faith for quite some time. The idea of resurrection is probably not foreign to you. For a moment, I invite you to imagine what it would be like for Saint John and Saint Peter who grew up in a culture where resurrection was considered impossible. Imagine going to the tomb knowing that Jesus had alluded to the idea that he would rise from the dead, and then finding the tomb empty with the burial linens lying there with no body.

How incredible would that be? It would be like discovering for the first time that human beings could fly, or could breathe underwater, or some other impossible feat. It would not only bring a massive amount of hope to the individual, in this case, Saint John, but it would also completely transform your perspective on humanity and all of human history.

This is the reality of what it’s like for us today and we should never lose our sense of wonder around it. Jesus freed us once and for all from the pangs of death. Death no longer has the last word. Death, which in many ways had become like a God, powerful and inevitable, has been conquered by love.

Today, as we reflect on the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, let’s consider the powerful reality that, with Jesus, death does not have the final say over us, ever.

by David Kruse