Texts: Romans 6:3-11; Psalm118: 1-2.15c- 17.22-23; Luke 24:1-12
This is the night of joy, the night of resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the night in which our Lord moved from the domain of dead to the realm of the living. The Easter Proclamation helps us to unravel the mystery of this night. First of all, it links the night with the night Hebrews passed through the Red Sea. This event has been termed the baptism of our forefathers into Moses (1Cor. 10:1-2). On this night new members will be baptised into Christ. Baptism is the sacrament by which we are buried with Jesus Christ and resurrect with Him. On this night, we are washed of our iniquities and cleansed of our sins. It is said of the night thus: “The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty” (Easter Proclamation). This is the night of recreation for the baptised and renewal for those who are to renew their baptismal promises.
This night is also linked with the night illuminated by pillar of fire that followed the Hebrews on their journey to the promise land. This is made real in the paschal Candle. Jesus Christ is the light that illuminates our night. This light, which is Christ, manifests in our lives when we give up sinning. Hence, in the Easter Proclamation, it is said, “This is the night that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of sin.” It is the light that banishes the darkness of sin. This means the light does not coexist with sin; wherever the light is, sin vanishes. If we still cling to sin, the mystery we celebrate today is yet to manifest in our lives. Let us give up evil and receive the light of Christ.
Being night of illumination, it is the night in which hope is restored to us. This hope is restored by the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. With resurrection we come to know that death is not our end, we are now able to see life after death. We also know that our toil, suffering, persecution, insults endured for Christ’s sake are not in vain. Being the night of illumination, it is also a night that ignorance is banished and knowledge restored. It is a night of revelation. It is by resurrection that Christ is made Lord and God (Rom. 1:4). With resurrection, our awareness of the presence of God in Jesus Christ is more certain.
This is also the night in which righteousness is bestowed and communion of the saints achieved, for it is said, “This is the night that even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and from the gloom of sin, leading them to grace, and joining them to his holy ones” (Easter Proclamation). This is the night in which resolution is made to give up vices and to embrace virtues. On this night we are set free from the slavery to sin and attain freedom of the sons and daughters of God.
This is also the night of victory over death. It is said, “This is the night, when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld” (Easter Proclamation). Death is the greatest evil that has befallen man. Jesus’ victory over death is a victory over evil. This tells us that evil shall be conquered on the day of resurrection at the end of time. We also need to know that the victory attained by Jesus Christ is for us, not for Himself. As He died for us, so also He won the victory for us. With resurrection we are healed of the wounds, death, incurred from the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Hence, in the Easter Proclamation, it is said, “Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed. O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!”
O God, who make this most sacred night radiant with the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, stir up in your Church a spirit of adoption, so that, renewed in body and mind, we may render you undivided service.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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