Twenty-Second Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: We Believe In the Resurrection of the Dead 我信死人的復活
It is impossible for any sensible person to base on experiences alone and accept that there is life after death. Here we take a broader sense of “experiences” to include not just our personal sensations but also the perception of other people’s experiences. All of us learn from other people’s successes and failures. We don’t need to go through their experiences ourselves in person but still we can “learn” from them. So far, we have never seen anybody come back to life after death.
On yet another level beyond sensations and perceptions, we may draw conclusions from logical deductions and inductions. For example, after seeing the sun rising every morning, we may induce with great confidence that the sun will continue to rise tomorrow. No sensations and perceptions are involved. So far, we have not seen anybody come back to life after death and that we see most dead bodies decay, except for some so-called “incorruptibles”. So how can we blame anyone who refuses to believe in resurrection (Matthew 16:23)? It is because from experiences or from logic, the only reasonable conclusion we may draw with great confidence is that there is no life after death! It is with something different from experiences and logic that Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This something they call “Faith”, which is a “theological virtue”. It is a virtue and thus is able to grow and develop through practices. It is theological because it comes from God and is directed to God. If this faith does not come from experiences or logic, then is Christianity a superstition, an opium for the commoners?
However, the first reading today requires us to broaden our definition of experiences more. Let’s call Jeremiah’s experience an instance of “mystical experience” because he tried to narrate his encounter with a transcendental Being which he calls “the Lord”. In context, Jeremiah had just prophesized the Babylonian Captivity, “For thus says the Lord: Indeed, I will hand you [Pashhur, priest, chief officer in the Temple] over to terror, you and all your friends. Your own eyes shall see them fall by the sword of their enemies. All Judah I will hand over to the power of the king of Babylon, who shall take them captive to Babylon or strike them down with the sword” (Jeremiah 20:4). This had to be the most unpopular message to proclaim to the inhabitants of Judah at that time. The Babylonian Empire had just defeated Egypt and was heading towards Syria and Judah. All inhabitants in Judah knew that the storm was looming and coming but they were willing to put up a fight. Nobody wanted to hear defeat before even trying to resist. Everyone who heard the message would definitely hate Jeremiah and would accuse him of treason, inciting people to surrender to the invading enemy. Let’s listen to his internal struggle.
Jeremiah’s experience was not particularly special or unique. Consider how a human relationship would start and continue. I’m sure there must be some sorts of attraction to start with. There might be subsequent frustrations and failures. Yet for a relation to continue, both parties must be able to find satisfactions. At the moment, Jeremiah was going through a roller coaster ride with his Lord! He even cursed his own conception, “Cursed be the day on which I was born … Cursed be the one who brought the news to my father … Then my mother would have been my grave, her womb confining me forever. Why did I come forth from the womb, to see sorrow and pain, to end my days in shame?” (20:14-18) What made Jeremiah’s experience special and unique was the Lord, a mystical and transcendental Being whose existence we are not able to disapprove conclusively! Jeremiah has highlighted a common experience among believers. Our relationship with God is a sweet and sour one!
We are not able to dismiss religions lightly as a human invention and an opium for the people. It is because there have been sensible and reasonable believers who are willing to lay down their lives to bear witness to their experiences and beliefs. To use Jeremiah’s wording, what can “seduce” a person to obtain in exchange for his life? None! Without life, how can a person enjoy what he has gained? It is illogical! Jesus puts it clearly today, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?” (Matthew 16:26) Therefore, the only logical explanation for martyrdom is that THERE MUST BE LIFE AFTER DEATH! The martyrs are willing to lay down their lives to bear witness to their conviction that there is life after death, however anti-intuitive such a belief appears to be. Human intelligence has grown throughout ages. Yet, not only was Christian martyrdom an ancient phenomenon but it is also happening nowadays where they form a minority population. Christianity is known to be rational. Her theology is highly systematic, consistent and logical and Christians are not frenetic, committing atrocities in order to enter heaven. They do not hate and mortify lives but at the same time, they are ready to lay down their own lives for a higher and nobler cause.
How is it possible to believe in life after death? It is from the witnesses of the Apostles and those chosen few who had seen the risen Lord that we come to believe in life after death. There must be some form of existence after death. Otherwise Jesus Christ would not come back to appear before His followers. The story of the Transfiguration is another supportive piece of evidence. Jesus would have shown His true glory alone. Yet, there appeared Moses and Elijah too. Which means they continue to exist after their deaths. St. Paul says well, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
Beloved Brethren! Most Christians are sensible and rational. There must be something attractive beyond this life beckoning them that they believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the truth of life everlasting. This is our faith that we have no qualm bearing witnesses with our own lives. We are truly blessed to be among the few chosen ones. Let us bear witness to this truth, this unreserved love of the Lord. Amen.
God bless!
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: commons.wikimedia.org
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