Catholic Replies

11 months ago

Editor’s Note: This series on the Bible is from the book Catholicism & Scripture. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. See contact information at the bottom of this column.

Special Course On Catholicism And Scripture (Chapter 21)

Jesus was buried on Friday night and soldiers were sent to guard the tomb on Saturday because Jesus had said that He would rise from the dead in three days. After they saw an angel roll back the stone that was blocking the tomb on Sunday morning, the soldiers reported this fact to the chief priests. They were paid a large sum of money and told not to report what they had actually seen, but to say instead that while they were sleeping, the Apostles came and stole the body.

Meanwhile, some women had gone to the tomb on Sunday morning to finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial. They saw an angel sitting atop the stone, and he told them that “Jesus the crucified has been raised just as he said…. Go quickly and tell his disciples” (Matt. 28:6-7). One of the women, Mary Magdalene, told the Apostles what she had seen and returned to the grave with Peter and John. They walked inside the tomb and found the burial cloths still there, which convinced them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Magdalene stayed behind after Peter and John left and saw a man whom she thought was the gardener.

When she asked if he knew what had happened to the body, the Man, who was Jesus, spoke Mary’s name and told her to tell the disciples that He was alive. But when she reported this news to them, nobody believed her.

Later that day, two disciples traveling to the village of Emmaus were joined by Jesus, but they did not recognize Him either. When asked why they were so downcast, the disciples said because of the death of “Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word” (Luke 24:19). “How foolish you are,” Jesus told them (24:25), and then He explained all the Old Testament passages that referred to what would happen to the Messiah. When they reached Emmaus and were eating, Jesus broke bread, blessed it, and gave it to them.

Then “their eyes were opened and they recognized Him” in the Eucharist (24:31), but before they could say anything, He vanished from their sight.

That evening, the Apostles were gathered in the room where the Last Supper had been held, and the door was locked because they were afraid that what happened to Jesus would happen to them. Suddenly, Jesus came through the locked door and said, “Peace be with you” (24:36). The Apostles were terrified; they thought that Jesus was a ghost. But when they saw Him eating some food — they knew that ghosts did not eat — they began to believe that He had risen. Jesus then gave us the Sacrament of Penance when He told them, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:21-23).

One of the Twelve, Thomas, was missing that night and, when he was told the next day that Jesus was alive, he said that he would only believe such a thing if he could put his fingers into the nail marks in Jesus’ hands. One week later, Jesus appeared again in the Upper Room and invited Thomas to put his fingers into His wounds, but Thomas fell to his knees and said, “My Lord and my God” (20:28).

Forty days after Easter, during which time Jesus had been seen by more than five hundred people, He gathered the Apostles in the village of Bethany and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He then instructed them to go into the whole world and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20). Jesus then rose into the heavens, and the Apostles returned to Jerusalem to await the Holy Spirit.

Ten days later, the Holy Spirit appeared in the Upper Room in wind and fire and gave those assembled there the wisdom and courage to proclaim the message of Jesus everywhere.

Peter, who only a few weeks before had denied that he even knew Jesus, went outside and preached a powerful sermon, stating that Jesus was alive and that those who wished to be saved must “repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Some 3,000 persons asked to be baptized.

The Assumption of Mary into Heaven at the end of her life is not mentioned in the Gospels, but it makes sense since corruption in the grave is a consequence of Original Sin, and Mary did not have Original Sin (that’s what her Immaculate Conception means). And what better way for Jesus to honor His Mother than by sparing her the grave and taking her to Heaven?

Likewise, the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth is not mentioned in the Gospels, but it makes sense if we look at the role of the Queen Mother in the Old Testament. Because many kings had multiple wives, making it difficult to choose one as queen, the kings usually gave their mother that title. And so Jesus singled out His Mother for this title because of the indispensable role that she had played in the salvation of all humanity.

List of Answers:

ANGEL

ASCENDED

ASSUMPTION

CROWNING

EMMAUS

FIVE

GHOST

HOLY SPIRIT

JOHN

MAGDALENE

PETER

SOLDIERS

THOMAS

Quiz:

An ______ told the women at the tomb that Jesus had risen from the dead.
The _______________ guarding the tomb were frightened by the angel.
Peter and ____________ saw the burial cloths in the tomb.
Mary _______________ was the first person to see the risen Jesus in public.
Jesus walked with two disciples on the road to ____________________.
The Apostles thought Jesus was a __________ when He appeared to them.
The only Apostle missing that first night was _________________.
Over the forty days after Easter, more than ___ hundred people saw Jesus.
On the fortieth day, Jesus ________________________ into Heaven.
Fifty days after Easter, the ________________ came down on the Apostles.
St. ________ then delivered a powerful talk that converted 3,000 persons.
The __________________ of Our Lady means that she was taken up into Heaven body and soul at the end of her life.
The ______________________ of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth comes from the respect given to the Queen Mother in the Old Testament.