EASTER SUNDAY (B) : 4th April 2021

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. Some critics of the Bible, who delight in pointing out inconsistencies and apparent mistakes, will point to passages where it does not say “on the third day” but rather “after three days”.

Here is not the place to discuss apparent discrepancies. It is sufficient to assert that “the third day” is a biblical symbol for “the day of consolation”. Thus, on “the third day”, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. There Jesus took a significant step in initiating the work demanded of him by his Isaian vocation. As demonstrated in Luke 4 and Matthew 11, Jesus affirmed his identification and acceptance of Isaiah’s vision of God’s Suffering Servant. The second part of the Book of Isaiah, which contains the great insight about the Suffering Servant, begins with the call “Console my people” (Is. 40:1).

Jesus’ great act of love in suffering to redeem us, consoles us and strengthens us. The day of the Resurrection was the supreme “third day”, the supreme day of consolation for all ages. God does not save us from suffering: He instead saves us through suffering, specifically the sufferings of Jesus, which were sublimated by the consolation of the resurrection.

Father in Heaven, grant us a special experience of the consolation of the Resurrection.