Conspiracy to Silence

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb,  

fearful yet overjoyed,
and ran to announce the news to his disciples.
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.
Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.
Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, 
and there they will see me."
While they were going, some of the guards went into the city
and told the chief priests all that had happened.
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
telling them, "You are to say,
'His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.'
And if this gets to the ears of the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."
The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.

Caiphas was right in thinking that Jesus would be more trouble for him dead than He was when He was alive.  But a little money spent in the right places will help, at least that is what he thought. Caiphas was dealing with things he did not understand and honestly did not have the capacity to believe even if he wanted to.  A Messiah is not what he needed, he needed something to keep the Romans at bay.  Pilate had no love for the Jews and that was proven when the procurator had done everything he could think of to turn Jesus loose on Friday. Something had told him that he should lead the delegation to Pilates place personally.  Times before he had sent guards with instructions to bring the rascal in but they had come back stating that they had never heard anyone speak like this man spoke. No, a Jesus let loose in the city would cause nothing but trouble for the Jews.  What he did, he did for their own good.  In a few days or maybe weeks, all would have forgotten about the Galilean Savior and life could return to normal.  He longed for the good old days when all he had to do was to pit his wits against those of Pilate.  He would make sure that his friends in the emperor's court would hear about the goings on and how his man on site made things more complicated than they needed to be.  Pilate was on his way out, he just didn't know it yet! 

The apostles were heartbroken until they heard the astonishing news that the Lord had risen from the dead.  They did not believe it at first but when they went to the tomb they saw the wrappings in one place and the windings for His head in another.  Yet, they were frightened and Peter was ashamed of his behavior at the high priest's house on Friday.  He could not look his fellow apostles in the eye.  They for their part held no grudge against him.  They were arguing amongst themselves what their next step should be.  No one came out against the thought of going back to the sea of Galilee and taking up their fishing career. The idea generated an awkward silence in the room.   They were afraid and had stayed locked in the upper room and did what people who do not know what their next step should be, they held a meeting.   Jesus would soon break the deadlock. 

We know, with the insight of hindsight. that Jesus has won the victory over death.  We know that this truth has survived over twenty centuries in time. Why is it that the world is not more excited about the prospect of eternal life?  Why is it that the human race clings to things that will soon turn to dust? Why is it that we tolerate abortion, euthanasia, pornography? Where is our voice? Is it that we do not really believe the tall tale of a man rising from the dead? If we do believe that Jesus walked out of that tomb under His own power than we must take action with our lives.  This is good news and people need to know what it means.  Oh, they have heard the story.  Why this feast is recognized as being so pivotal that it is one of two days that some people actually go to church to worship. So they know what happened but they do not understand the importance of the story and how it should be affecting their lives.  Yesterday, all over the world, church bells pealed out their tune announcing the good news.  Unfortunately, for some, it was only an annoyance and they turned over and went back to sleep.  Brothers and sisters, Christ has Risen, Christ has been victorious, and Christ will live forever.  Let everyone you know of this good news! 

Our loved ones in Purgatory, as well as millions of others, look forward to the day when they will be ready to take their place as saints in heaven.  Please pray for them today.