The Tribune

By the Rev Canon S Sebastian Campbell, CM

THE angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He has been raised, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay, then go quickly and tell His disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him.” (Matthew 28:5-7).

Jesus lives! “He is alive, He is alive, He is alive! The power of death has done their worst and Jesus hath His foes dispersed.” The cry of the early Christians was “Alleluia Christ is risen!”

Response: “The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!” Visiting the graveyard is not an attractive exercise, outside of a funeral, it is thought to be a place of obeah, witchcraft and under dealings. Today’s gospel presents one of the most unusual reasons for a visit to the cemetery; just to see the tomb, very early in the morning when one could see scarcely ones palms. Mary Magdalene and another woman came to the graveyard in the wee hours of the morning. Why go early. Could it be they forgot to do something on Friday? Very early in the morning is a sign of urgency. We can infer that the early graveyard visitors hardly slept the night before. They were not interested in the tomb, but the one inside the tomb. It was the first opportunity they had, because remember, Jesus was buried in a hurry on Friday, to beat the Sabbath curfew. Curfew was lifted early Sunday morning. On the Sabbath Jesus lay dead in the tomb, while His spirit roamed the underworld, we say “he descended into hell.”

But on the third day – Sunday - “Up from the grave He arose!” We celebrate it every week on a Sunday. Let us go to Galilee. A critical mind would wonder why the angel at the graveyard and Jesus, Himself, could send the women to inform the disciples to meet Him in Galilee. “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.” Why Galilee as a location for meeting the risen Lord? Galilee was the venue for most of Jesus’ Ministry. It was located in modern day Northern Israel, which in Jesus’ day was part of the Roman Empire. Those hated people who held God’s chosen people, the Jews, in bondage. Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee; in Cana of Galilee Jesus changed water into wine (his first miracle). Galilee was where most of Jesus’ disciples got their vocation. Galilee was where Jesus gave his greatest sermon - that sermon called “the Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5, 6,7). Galilee was where Jesus was transformed. Galilee was said to be a province with a halo. (Read St. Matthew chapter 4:23-25).

It was in Nazareth of Galilee where Jesus was rejected and He went on to Capernaum, another town in Galilee where He fed thousands and walked on the water. So, we sing the song, “Put your hands in the hand of the man who stilled the water. Put your heads in the hand of the man who calmed the sea, take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently. Put your hands in the hand of the man from Galilee. Galilee is mentioned 67 times in the Bible where 25 of Jesus’ 33 miracles were performed and 32 parables were taught. Galilee was the maternal home of the Ministry of Jesus. Hence, the need to anchor the resurrection narrative where the story begins. There is still more we must underscore about Galilee. This Galilee where Jesus anchored his ministry was known for political unrest, for thieving and revolts. It was a hotbed for political and economic instability. Galilee was known for cultural confusion. Like The Bahamas of today it had a mix, diverse group of people always, fighting for their turf - they were always fighting Jesus; Gentiles, Romans, Greeks - mixed up like conch salad. A mixed-up people, always rowing and fighting. It was a volatile environment, a place of anxiety and fear. (Does this sound like anywhere you know today?)

It’s into such a volatile and diverse region Jesus goes to do ministry. Now you see how crazy and yet powerful when Jesus goes home to Nazareth of Galilee and says: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me..” (Luke 4:18). It’s no accident now that the angel tells the disciples to go to Galilee to see Jesus again (Matthew chapter 28:5-7). It’s no accident that Jesus sends his disciples out in their apostolic mission from Galilee. Jesus leaves the graveyard and returns to Galilee, to all its ambiguity and instability. To those who would be his disciples, Jesus says, “Let us go to Galilee.” Resurrection needs to be experienced in Galilee, my Galilee, your Galilee. Our place of testing - our place where people are blowing up in our faces, place of ambush.

1. I have moved from one Galilee to the next in my own ministry – places without modern conveniences of electricity, portable water, wifi computer and telephone. In this Galilee where I do ministry I am ambushed, take a licking, and keep on ticking.

2. The church must minister in Galilee. Where what is the real challenge of the church today? Galilee is made most competitive in the midst of the pandemic. We must reboot and find creative ways of ministry to our children, our teens, our young adults and especially to our seniors. The prevailing challenges need resurrection power. This is our Galilee. In spite of a pandemic the challenges of our Galilee hovers around us. We must get down to ministering in our Galilee.

3. Children still must be brought to Jesus, youths still must be challenged to be involved in their church and love their God.

4. Crime, murder, drugs, stealing, broken families are still real. We must be relevant to the times or throw the towel in and look elsewhere for something to do. Galilee needs resurrection.

Today we are invited to enter and deal with our own Galilee; face up to our challenges. We should be able to bear witness to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, not just by words, but also by our actions. We are challenged by this invitation to Galilee to live a resurrected life. We are all called today to head to Galilee to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, not just by physical feasting, but by our spiritual communion with the Lord. For this reason, St. Paul writes us in Colossians chapter 3:1-4 that if we are raised with Christ, we should seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

May the resurrection of our Lord bring about the emptying of our physical and spiritual burdens. May the resurrection of our Lord open the doorway to our Galilee of witnessing by our words and actions.

Happy Easter and may the days ahead become steps towards going out of ourselves. The tomb demonstrates the empty works of the devil and his promises. The empty tomb shows that without God in our lives we are cut off and can do nothing (John 15:5). The empty tomb shows that the words of our Lord on the Cross is real: “It is finished” (John 19:30). That means He has paid our debts and we do not owe anymore. So, as he said to the women (Matthew 28:10), the Lord is telling us today: “Do not be afraid.” A critical mind would wonder why the angel at the graveyard and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself could send the women to inform the disciples to meet Him up in Galilee. “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.” Why Galilee as a location for meeting the risen Lord?

Galilee is very central in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. The visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary announcing the coming of the Saviour through the Virgin birth took place in Nazareth; the most insignificant towns in Galilee “where no good thing could come” (John 1:43-46). Most of the apostles got their vocation around the Galilee region, including the fisherman that became fishers of men (Matthew 4:18-22). Most of the outstanding teachings and miracles of our Lord took place in Galilee. In fact, Galilee could be said to be the maternal home of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, the need to anchor the resurrection narrative where the story began. Going to Galilee has to do with going back to the roots to bear witness and testify to the fact and power of the resurrection. This witnessing is what we see Peter doing in the first reading today. In his testimony, he began by tracing the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ back to Galilee where he went about doing good, healing those oppressed by the devil and God was with him. In Galilee, it will become evident that the one whom they knew very well and who eventually died on the cross and was buried, has risen. In Galilee, it will become lucid that one who changes water into wine (John 2:1- 11) has come back from the dead to life.