St. Dominic Catholic Church

Pastor's Corner

April 16, 2017

Witnesses of the miracles of Jesus either believed and became disciples, or they didn’t believe, and lived as before. The same holds for every generation: we believe, or we don’t.  Our scientific age demands proof, but even then, we won’t believe if inconveniently requires us to change our life, as the debates over climate change prove.

We have to accept the resurrection in faith, yet it was not always so.  The scriptures recount as many as five hundred saw the resurrected Jesus (1 Cor 15:6).  The apostles underwent an extraordinary change, boldly taking the message to the streets of Jerusalem and beyond after Pentecost, despite the increasing violence against them.  All of them, except John, suffered torture and martyrdom, rather than renounce what they had seen. 

From the very beginning, some people have accused the disciples of stealing Jesus’ body (Mt. 28:13).  But this makes no sense, because all of those professed eyewitnesses would have to have been lying, and maintained the hoax while being tortured, or seeing members of their family and friends being tortured.  Nor is it reasonable to suggest that Jesus survived His crucifixion.  The Romans were notoriously efficient at killing via crucifixion, including breaking the legs of the crucified so they could no longer push against the nails and snatch a shallow breath. In Jesus’ case, a lance was thrust through His heart.

The Gospels are clear that women were the first to find the empty tomb and to see the resurrected Jesus.  Given that women had no standing in Jewish culture, and could not give testimony in courts of law, it would not make sense to use their testimony to promote a hoax.  This indicates that the Gospel writers faithfully recorded what happened, even if it was embarrassing.

Our choice is clear: belief or unbelief.  Some people eschew driving a car because of their concern about climate change.  If we believe Jesus is risen from the dead, conversion is the sign of our faith.