With the celebration of Easter Sunday now complete, it is important to actively contemplate the reality of Easter and how we live into that reality.  And when you consider the post-resurrection stories recounted in all four gospels, it becomes clear that recognizing and understanding the resurrection as a reality in one’s life is the primary focus of the stories.  Despite how these stories have been portrayed over the centuries, none of them offer an account of the resurrection.  All of them recount the experience of individuals after the fact.  Consequently, we readily identify with the followers of Jesus as they come to terms with the resurrection and what it means in their lives. 

The post-resurrection stories demonstrate that the disciples are just like us.  They want and need the assurance that what they are experiencing is “real.”  And, just like us, their desire is to manage the consequences of the unknown.  The disciples, like us, engage in a deliberate process whereby they may safely interpret the experiences of others while minimalizing any obligations.   For you see, as long as the Easter experience remains nothing more than the affirmation of someone else’s experience — the mere affirmation of some creedal statement concerning the physicality of resurrection — we remain free to live our lives unto ourselves.  By restricting our experience of Easter to an annual commemoration whereby we simply “affirm our faith” through liturgical enactment and creedal confessions, we reduce Easter to a static piety — being incapable of transformation and devoid of Life.

The most striking aspect of the biblical post-resurrection stories is how remarkably similar they are.  The first thing to note is that no one is anticipating the resurrection.  The women go to the tomb not to ascertain whether or not Jesus was raised from the dead.  What precipitates the discovery of an empty tomb is their desire to perform the appropriate rituals for the dead: to grieve, to keep vigil, and to prepare the body for burial.  And it is important to note that the women’s encounter with the risen Jesus occurs as they act on their discovery and are in route to share their experience with the disciples.  And their encounter with the risen Jesus is validated by his message of reassurance and forgiveness and inclusion:  “Go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”  The experience of the women is transformed from that of bewildered excitement to the bold declaration of Mary, “I have seen the Lord!”

Remarkably, this “good news” doesn’t even phase the disciples.  Instead of rejoicing and acting on Mary’s assertion, the disciples respond fearfully.   In some of the gospel accounts, there isn’t even a modicum of curiosity generated by Mary’s announcement.  In the other accounts, there is enough curiosity to warrant visiting the tomb but lacking any “real” evidence the disciples’ response is to secure themselves from the threat of not knowing.  It is into midst of their safe haven of a locked room* that Jesus suddenly and unexpectedly appears to the disciples.  But even Jesus’ appearance fails to elicit a response from the disciples.  It is not until Jesus physically “proves” that it is he by showing them his wounds that the disciples are receptive to the Divine greeting, “Peace be with you.” 

Unfortunately, Thomas is not present when Jesus appears to the disciples.  And Thomas’ response to his colleagues’ news is the same as their response to Mary — unless I see it, I’m not going to believe it.  Later in the week, Jesus does for Thomas what he did for the rest of the disciples — presents himself to Thomas.  The significant difference is in Thomas’ response to the revelation.  Thomas responds by offering the most complete confession concerning the revelation of God in Jesus — “My Lord and my God!”  It is Thomas who connects the dots — who discerns the meaning of Jesus’ teaching, “if you know me, you will know my Father also.  From now on you know him and have seen him.”  Thomas fully discerns that in the person of Jesus God, the Divine, is fully revealed. 

It is ironic that the common title for the Gospel of John’s post-resurrection story is “Doubting Thomas.”  This misnomer contributes to the modern readers’ inability to grasp two significant insights:  God always meets us where we are, and the antithesis of faith is fear, not doubt.  In the post-resurrection stories, everyone is met where they are — the women in their grief and the disciples (just like Thomas) in their need for physical confirmation.  No one is rejected or excluded for their lack of faith.  Likewise, the idea that doubt is detrimental to faith is dispelled.  In all the post-resurrection stories, doubt and questioning actually serves a vital purpose by shifting people’s perspectives.  New perspectives open us to creative insights and fresh possibilities.  Fear, in contrast, inhibits our ability to engage.  Fear causes us to withdraw from that which we don’t understand and makes us uncomfortable.  It is fear that keeps us from committing ourselves and fully engaging life.  

So how do we experience Easter?  The key is found in Jesus’ exhortation to Thomas which is typically translated, “Do not doubt but believe.”  The literal translation is actually, “Don’t be unbelieving but believing.”  Belief is not a noun; not an object — a thing to be observed, analyzed, studied, or possessed.  Belief, if it is real, must always be a verb.  Karen Armstrong reminds us that belief, until very recently, was never understood to be an intellectual assent to propositions or creedal statements.  Belief meant to love, to prize, to hold dear.  Belief is about how we live — how we engage life.  It is not about deciding whether or not you accept a certain dictum.  It is about living in a committed way.  In other words, it is only when you act that you experience the reality of believing.  Disciples — seekers — contrary to popular opinion, are not called to believe in or on something.  Disciples — seekers — are called to be believing.  In other words, we are called to embody or manifest or incarnate God’s abiding and loving presence in our world.  Easter becomes real only when we commit ourselves to living our life in a manner that manifests God’s abiding and loving presence in the world — willing to let our light shine in the midst of our life. 

*Reference:  John 20:19-31