Monday within the
Octave of Easter
(Acts 2:24.22-23; Matthew 28:8-15)
Of all the evangelists Matthew is most cynical toward the
Jews. He alone pictures Jewish leaders scheming
with Judas to arrest Jesus. Likewise, he
alone records the Jewish people saying that Jesus’ blood should fall on them
and their children. The cynicism toward
the Jews concludes in today’s gospel.
Matthew alone explains the natural skepticism that arises with the
report of a dead person’s coming to life by describing the Jewish authorities
bribing the Roman soldiers and promulgating a lie.
Scholars attribute such negativity in Matthew (and John) to
the persecution that Christians were experiencing at the hand of Jewish leaders
at the time of his writing. Jewish-Christians
were being purged from synagogues as Jewish leaders were reforming the practice
of their faith with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. Saying that an evangelist read back into the
account of Jesus’ life events which reflect his own times does not undercut the
authority of Scripture. Rather it should
help Christians to understand and live their faith.
We should not doubt the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead. That Jesus appeared to his
disciples and to Paul in a glorified body after he died is firmly attested to
in Scripture. His resurrection and
visitations have precipitated the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us. The Spirit enables us to accept the quite
implausible occurrence of the resurrection so that we too hope to experience it
at the end of time. The same Spirit moves us to search for the truth
of all matters so that our testimony to the resurrection of Jesus has
credibility.
