During Lent, the Church encourages Christians to walk with Jesus on his way to Calvary. Probably you have heard words with this intent from your pastors, Lenten books, and church websites. Now, Lent is over. Jesus has risen from death. His tomb is empty. Then, in Eastertide, what do we do?

After Peter and John went in and saw the empty tomb of Jesus, they went to their homes. Did they understand what had happened to the body of Jesus? Did they fully realize the resurrection of the Lord? John, who is the author of the fourth gospel, described himself as having gone home. Although the beloved disciple of Jesus saw the empty tomb and believed, he did not say he had gone home with great joy or fear. He just went home. Does it symbolize they intended to go back to their old way of life as fishermen?

In the meantime, Mary Magdalene and other women disciples were looking for the dead body of Jesus. Of course, they could not find the body. Instead, the risen Jesus came up to them. They were full of fear and great joy at the same time. Then, as Jesus commanded, they ran to bring the news to the disciples and let them know Jesus would meet them in Galilee.

As we can see in the episode of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, when the disciples heard the news from the women disciples, they did not believe the Lord’s resurrection. They had to meet Jesus. Only when Jesus met them in person, they believed and were full of joy.

Now can you see what we need to do this Easter Season? We should look for the risen Jesus. We need to encounter the reality of the resurrection. Or we pray that the risen Jesus comes up to us and reveals himself to us. It is not the time to go back to our homes. It is time to search and meet the risen Jesus. Only then, our faith in the resurrection will start to grow and mature. Let us remember the words of the Lord, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened for you.” It is time for another journey to meet the risen Jesus.