Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message
Newness of Life
April 7, 2021
“Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
During the Great Fifty Days of Easter, we hear again and again scripture readings that connect our Lord’s resurrection from the dead with our own turning from death to life. It is important to remember that Jesus coming forth alive from the tomb in which he lay dead is not simply a metaphor for newness of life: in some real ways, it is newness in our individual lives that is the metaphor—it reflects and grows from the truth of Jesus’ resurrection, not vice versa. As St. Paul said, “if Christ is not raised from the dead, … we of all people are most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:14-19). As Flannery O’Connor said, “If it's just a symbol, then to hell with it!”
That said, what makes the resurrection so important is that it does in fact entail life-giving newness in our individual experience. This is expressed very strikingly in Ruth Etchells’ poem on Christ’s Harrowing of Hell, “The Ballad of the Judas Tree”:
In Hell there grew a Judas Tree
Where Judas hanged and died
Because he could not bear to see
His master crucified
Our Lord descended into Hell
And found his Judas there
Forever hanging on the tree
Grown from his own despair
So Jesus cut his Judas down
And took him in his arms
“It was for this I came” he said
“And not to do you harm
My Father gave me twelve good men
And all of them I kept
Though one betrayed and one denied
Some fled and others slept
In three days’ time I must return
To make the others glad
But first I had to come to Hell
And share the death you had
My tree will grow in place of yours
Its roots lie here as well
There is no final victory
Without this soul from Hell”
So when we all condemn him
As of every traitor worst
Remember that of all his men
Our Lord forgave him first.
Grace and Peace.
Fr. Tony+
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