He Is Not Here — He Has Risen!
An Easter Reflection for a World That Needs to Rise Again
Easter Sunday is a cosmic day.
Based on the testimony of many, we know that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth; it is an explosion of light at the darkest hour of history. It opens a crack in the wall of death, a wound in the silence of the grave — through which light and new creation flow.
Refinements:
As the Psalm proclaims: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Ps 118:24).
What God Has Done
Peter stands up in the first reading of Easter Sunday, Cycle C, and declares: “They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. But God raised Him on the third day” (Acts 10:39–40).
Peter speaks with conviction as a firsthand witness: “We ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead” (Acts 10:41). Jesus is alive.
And how did He overcome death? Let us ponder and reflect on this question from several angles. But first, let me tell you a story.
A Story: The Boy with the Hoodie
A teenage boy once walked into church alone. Hoodie up, headphones dangling. Eyes to the ground.
After Mass, he approached the priest and asked, “Father… do you really think God knows what it’s like to cry alone in your room and not know if you want to live?”
The priest didn’t scold him. He said: “God doesn’t just know it… He lived it. Jesus also cried alone in a garden, knowing He’d be betrayed. He also shouted, ‘My God, why have You abandoned me?’ (Mt 27:46). He didn’t escape pain. He faced it. Because you were there.”
Jesus didn’t escape suffering the way the world does. He didn’t numb Himself with likes, weed, or empty pleasures. He didn’t hide behind success or fake smiles. He walked into the pain. And came out with life — for you.
What the Empty Tomb Reveals
Today’s Gospel says: “John saw and believed” (Jn 20:8).
What did he see? No angel singing. No glowing apparition. The young John saw a tomb. Linen cloths on the ground. But something in his soul knew: this is real.
And Christ says to you today: “Your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).“ When Christ appears, you too will appear with Him in glory” (Col 3:4).
The Contrast: Christ’s Way vs. The World’s Way
Let’s be honest. The ways of the world offer false resurrections every day:
Reinvent yourself on Instagram.
Escape into fantasy or substance.
Take revenge.
Promote chaos and call it creativity.
Even in brilliant literature — like R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface — we see this twisted game of fame: destroy the other, and you shine. That resonates with many because it mirrors our fallen instincts ← those are the instincts Christ cama to redeem.
Hence, Christ proposes another way.
He didn’t rise by crushing others. He rose by forgiving. He didn’t win by stealing glory. He won by laying down His life. Many have pointed out that Christ’s ways are contercultural. And that is why Christ’s message appeals and compels to young souls who are tired of the world’s lies.
The world says: “Be the main character, even if it costs others everything.” (Notice: “others” in that sentence.)
Christ says: “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (cf. Mt 10:39) and “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11).
The words of Jesus caress our ears, penetrate our hearts, and leave us wondering: Is this call for me?
The bodily Resurrection of Jesus isn’t suitable for the social media feed. It happens in hearts that choose to love when it’s easier to hate, to serve when it’s easier to dominate, to hope when it’s easier to give up.
What Stone Needs to Be Rolled Away in Your Life?
Let’s be real: You might not have a tomb, but you may have a stone.
The stone of anxiety.
The stone of exhaustion.
The stone of addiction.
The stone of silence between you and your spouse.
The stone of fear to try again.
And today the angel speaks to you:“He is not here. He has risen” (Jn 20:6).
If Christ lives, then you can live again, too.
Every mother still praying for her kids, Every grandfather still walking to Mass, Every teenager still choosing virtue when the world offers vice — is proclaiming the Resurrection with their life.
Don’t Just Be Amazed — Be Called
Scripture says: “Peter went home amazed at what had happened” (Lk 24:12).
He didn’t understand everything,but he left with a fire inside.
And that’s what God wants from you today. Not perfection.Not religious performance.
Just one thing:Don’t stay in the tomb. Don’t live numbed out on screens, weed, or shallow popularity. Stand up. Go home different. Because the One who lives in you has defeated death.
And now… you are His witness.
A Call to Vocation
And now, to every young heart reading this: It’s not enough to admire Christ. You are called to follow Him.
Are you called to holy marriage? To raise a family that brings light to the world?
Are you called to serve in the liturgy — as an altar server, lector, cantor, or minister?
Are you hearing a whisper… to be a priest, a nun, a missionary?
Don’t say you’re not worthy. None of us are.But He calls. And He transforms.
St. Francis of Assisi had wealth and dreams — until he heard Christ.
St. José Sánchez del Río — “Joselito” — chose martyrdom over denying Jesus… at age 14.
St. John Berchmans was just a joyful, simple altar boy — who served in two Masses in the morning, before going to chool, and became a model of purity for all, but specially for the youth.
And you? You could be next. You can be the next saint, for the glory of God.
Who said holiness was boring?
Today, the Risen Jesus is calling you.Y es, you. Not to live a normal life — but a glorious one. A life that reflects His victory.
Christ is Risen! Alleluia.And with Him… we rise, too. Amen.
Let us now fulfill our promise and explore the Resurrection event from different perspectives — as a way to reflect and allow our affections to be moved in the right direction.
How Did the Resurrection of Christ Happen?
An Essay on the Most Radical Instant in Cosmic History
There were no human witnesses. No quill wrote it down. No camera captured it. Yet something utterly unheard of happened between the darkness of Holy Saturday and the first light of Sunday: a lifeless, cold, sealed body crossed the threshold of death and returned to life — not as before, but as never seen before. The Resurrection of Christ is the mystery par excellence of faith, and of the history of being.
And yet we ask: How did it happen? How did we pass from the shrouded corpse to the Living One who walks through walls and breaks bread? Was there a sacred thunder, an invisible quake? From sixteen different angles, let us explore layer by layer, realm by realm, vision by vision.
Physically: Christ’s body was lifeless. His heart no longer beat. Blood coagulated. But in the Resurrection, something broke through the core of being — not a biological restart, but a transcendence of decay. Cells, atoms, organic matter were penetrated by a force not of this world: a fire that does not burn, a logic that transfigures matter without nullifying it.
Quantum level: Christ’s body seems to relate newly to space and time. He appears without entering. Eats without needing food. He “is,” and yet He cannot be contained. Classical physics bows before hyperdimensional reality. The Resurrection doesn’t contradict matter; it liberates it from entropy.
Genetically: Christ does not return like Lazarus. Lazarus died again. Jesus didn’t. This was not the reactivation of vital functions but an ontological reprogramming. His glorified body is the eschatological prototype. His DNA is the first transfigured code.
Spiritually: There is no separation of soul and body. In the Resurrection, Christ’s glorious soul, always united to divinity, reintegrates His body not with prior limits, but in fulfillment of the Psalm: “You will not allow your holy one to see decay” (Ps 16:10).
Metaphysically: This is the passage from potency to pure act. From history to mystery. Resurrection is uncreated life bursting into creation. It is the moment when nothingness retreats. Life does not defend itself; it conquers.
Theologically: This is the fulfillment of all Scripture. Not an isolated act, but the seal of the Father’s fidelity. “The God of our fathers raised Him” (Acts 3:13). He who was obedient unto death is exalted to the highest.
Liturgically: Every Eucharist contains this instant. The Risen One is not trapped in the past. He is present. Whenever the bread is broken, He is there. The empty tomb is not a museum; it is an altar.
Mystically: The Desert Fathers spoke of the “ray of Glory” that lit up the sealed tomb — not as physical light, but as Shekinah: the presence of God awakening the sleeping. Some Orthodox mystics say “the light of Tabor touched His dead heart.”
Artistically: The moment has been portrayed as a silent explosion. The stone rolled not by external force but by inner fullness. Beauty is not in the gesture, but in the void: the empty tomb as icon of Infinity.
Legally: The folded cloths, the women’s testimony, the missing body, the disciples’ confusion — all point to an unfabricated fact. “Peter ran to the tomb and saw only the cloths” (Lk 24:12).
Philosophically: Resurrection is the moment when absurdity bows. History is no longer doomed to chaos. There is meaning, direction, fulfillment. “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). But if He has — everything changes.
Pedagogically: No lectures that day. Just an announcement and a question: “Do you not remember what He told you?” God’s pedagogy is based on living memory and shared experience.
Anthropologically: That women were the first witnesses reshapes human dignity. The last become first. The invisible are lifted up. Resurrection is the great reversal.
Politically: The guarded tomb, imperial seals, Roman watch — all mocked. Resurrection is a subversive act against every power claiming the final word.
Ecologically: The tomb in a garden recalls Genesis. The new Adam rises from fertile earth to redeem not only man but all creation. “Creation groans, awaiting the revelation of the children of God” (Rom 8:19).
For the non-believer: As an exercise, some speculate Jesus traversed dimensions, activated spiritual frequencies, or became a universal “inner Christ.” Though Christian faith clearly distinguishes the historical, bodily event from these symbolic views, the depth of the Resurrection invites even distant seekers to contemplate the Mystery.
Epilogue
How did it happen? No eye saw it. But every eye shall see it. Because that moment does not belong to the past — it transcends time and fills it with new meaning. It was a silent crack in the bones of the universe. A soundless symphony. An awakening that carries with it all who were asleep.
Christ is Risen! And the world, even if unaware, is no longer the same.
“Awake, O sleeper, arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph 5:14).
Author’s Note: This reflection was composed by Theoloscience on April 20, 2025, and thoughtfully refined with the assistance of digital tools.
