Easter Tuesday

The Self-Revelation of the Risen Christ3

from the writings of Caryl Houselander

In the five recorded incidents of Christ appearing in his Risen Body, he allowed each of those to whom he showed himself to discover that it was he in their own way, through their own medium. His approach to them, always exquisite in courtesy, miraculous in humility, was in each case one that showed his intimate knowledge of each one individually. He knew which would be the most natural way for that particular person to respond to his love, and what each needed to lift his or her heart from the sorrow or shame which was crushing it and restore it to the joy that would enable it to enter into communion with him.

To Mary Magdalene the revelation was a word of tenderness, and at the same time of restraint, followed immediately by entrusting her with the news of his Resurrection to give to his apostles.

A woman whose experience had been the opposite to Magdalene’s — one who had lived a sheltered, protected life, a life of virtue, who had always been esteemed by her contemporaries, who could not even imagine what it is like to be held in contempt, to hold oneself in contempt, to be regarded even by those who love one as being capable only of emotionalism and instability — simply could not have understood the sheer glory it must have been to Magdalene to be asked by Christ for the pure, supernatural love implied by his words, following that intimate utterance of her name -“Mary”: “Do not cling to me thus; I have not yet gone up to my Father’s side”. And then, to be given a commission which could only be entrusted to one whom he knew to be levelheaded and wholly trustworthy, and which was the final message of Christ’s Incarnation and Resurrection to the whole world. “Return to my brethren, and tell them this, I am going up to him who is my Father and your Father, who is my God and your God”.

There was no proof needed for Magdalene other than the stirring of life in her own heart in response to the illimitable courtesy of Christ’s love for her; but it was otherwise with the apostles. Those amazingly incredulous men, who had been warned, who had had the prophecies that were to be fulfilled pointed out to them, who had been told that Christ would rise on the third day, who had actually seen him raise another man from the dead, were still unconvinced, they frankly disbelieved Magdalene and, as men are so apt to do when faced by the courage of a woman’s love, they thought that she was, at least temporarily, insane. They were frightened, trembling for their own lives, bewildered by what had happened and by what might be going to happen, and they locked themselves up “for fear of the Jews.”

Christ knew their need — their need for reassurance, for courage; that they must be calmed like frightened children: he knew the turmoil within them, like the tossing waves of the sea which he had once calmed with a word; so he came secretly yet wonderfully through the doors, and his first word was “Peace!” He knew too the smarting humiliation of their failure through weakness in his hour of need, and once again the genius of his human love shines out; they are given the power to forgive, to absolve sin, to strengthen and comfort the weak, and to reunite the scattered, frightened world of sinners to himself. “With that, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. When you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven, when you hold them bound, they are held bound’”.