Read Genesis 1:1-2:2, Ps. 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35, Genesis 22:1-18, Ps. 16:5,8-11, Exodus 14:15-15:1, Isaiah 54:5-14, Ps. 3:2,4-6,11-13, Isaiah 55:1-11, Baruch 3:9-15,32-4:4, Ps. 19:8-11, Ezekiel 36:16-17,18-28, Ps. 42:2-3,5,42:3-4, Matthew 28:1-10
“Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:9-11)
In the beginning, when God created the world, everything was good. Sin spoilt it all. God chose Abraham and from him began a race; a people who were to be in covenant with God living above sin and a light (example) to the rest of mankind but being humans, they kept falling back into sin. God saved them from Egypt by mighty works of valor, but they soon forgot God and returned to their sinful ways.
God did not give up on man; God has never given up on us. God sent the prophets, all of them, with just one message: walk away from sin and embrace true life. We heard Isaiah, Baruch, and Ezekiel, all of them pleading that we return to God. Consider the images the prophets employed going as far as referring to us as the adulterous wife and God as the patient husband who seeks our return.
God, still not giving up on man, decided to send His Son Jesus Christ. The prophets announced the coming of Christ as God coming to sprinkle clean water on us and change our hearts of stone. Jesus was not born to live, He was born for one purpose; to die; to undo the sin of our first parents, to reconcile us to God, and to free mankind from the grip of death and sin.
As St. Paul says, by recalling the death of Christ, we must remind ourselves of one basic truth; by the death of Christ, we who call ourselves Christians must die to sin. If we continue living in sin, then we make a mockery of our entire spiritual history as children of Abraham.
It is not enough that we push sin away, we must shine the light of Christ; we must be lights in this darkened world. In the midst of the darkness that surrounds our world, we Christians are called to become like the Paschal Candle; to shine goodness, love, compassion, truth, justice, and everything Christ would do.
The women went to the tomb very early in the morning hoping to anoint the body of Jesus with the spices. They were looking for a dead body but found an Angel who gave them the Good News. These women forgot or perhaps did not believe it when Jesus said several times that He would rise again.
Like these women who were not expecting to see Jesus alive, many of us are not expecting to rise with Jesus from a life of sin. Many of us here are not expecting we would shine like this Pascal Candle. That notwithstanding, we must go to the tomb in faith not to anoint the dead body of Christ but to become witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, teach me to die to sin each moment by the power of Christ’s resurrection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Holy Saturday, Bible Study: Genesis 1:1-2:2, Ps. 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35, Genesis 22:1-18, Ps. 16:5,8-11, Exodus 14:15-15:1, Isaiah 54:5-14, Ps. 3:2,4-6,11-13, Isaiah 55:1-11, Baruch 3:9-15,32-4:4, Ps. 19:8-11, Ezekiel 36:16-17,18-28, Ps. 42:2-3,5,42:3-4, Matthew 28:1-10).
@Rev. Fr. Eghiemeiyo Abu