In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
“But some doubted.” Having seen all that had been accomplished for us and our salvation—the Triumphant Entry, the Last Supper, the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, the road to Golgotha, the Crucifixion, the Empty Tomb, the risen Lord—having been witnesses to all, “some doubted.” And we, too, two millennia later, are inclined to doubt. “How can this be?” I ask myself, “They must have been wrong.”
But who suffers and dies for a lie? If this were made up by his disciples, why would they go to cruel and excruciating torture. The Apostle tells us,
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
First Corinthians 11:3–8
and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
After that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
Then last of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
This is a remarkable number to maintain a lie, or to be deceived. But I want to maintain my doubt despite the evidence, because to accept the Truth of the Resurrection requires something of me: I must be converted to Christ, I must be changed by Christ, I must repent. No longer can I maintain the pretence that I am in charge of my life: I was—I am!—a slave to sin and journeying towards death but now I have been bought with a price and a servant of the Most High.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy to doubt, it is natural to doubt, but in the face of the evidence of the Resurrection we can give the benefit of the doubt to the Lord. Our age wants to use the existence of doubt to reject religion but we remain faithful because the Apostles remained faithful, because our mothers and fathers in the Faith remained faithful, and we continue that faithfulness to the Resurrection of Christ even in our times. The Cross and Resurrection are both stumbling blocks and foolishness to our world yet for us they bring us to “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (First Corinthian 1:23–24)
Let us, then, greet our risen Saviour, offer praise and worship to our risen Saviour, be joined and become the Body of our risen Saviour that we may come to make the Resurrection our own and come to the life which is offered to as many as receive his name.
That we may offer true glory, honour and majesty to our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, all who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death. We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. The death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
— Romans 6:3–11
After the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Hail!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed; and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Amen.
— Matthew 28:1–20