By Stanislaus Alla
New Delhi, March 30, 2024: Some places are dearer to us than the others. The places of our birth or upbringing, the school where we studied or the shrine where we found deep peace and joy are endearing. Similarly, we are likely to have persons and things and dates dear to us.
For the Christians, Easter is the most important feast, a time when time itself froze, when light shattered darkness, and when life embraced eternity. Forgiven and healed and restored, as Easter people, we are all transformed forever. When the stone was rolled away, chaos began to melt into the cosmos.
Interestingly, the Risen Lord mandates Mary Magdalene to tell the apostles to go to Galilee, assuring that he will meet them all there. This humble woman, rightly called Apostle to the Apostles, even if they struggle to believe her, conveyed the message and they undertake the journey.
Why this ‘Go to Galilee?’
Galilee is more a descriptive term than referring to a particular place. It comprises several villages around the Sea of Galilee (also called lake of Tiberias or of Gennesaret). For fisherfolk and for traders the Sea of Galilee, containing fresh-water, is truly a lifeline. The prominent villages in the area include Nazareth, Capernaum, Cana, Magdala, and the famous Mount Tabor.
All these places, a careful reader of the New Testament notices, evoke a sense of wonder and joy, bonding and belonging, something that is exciting. Jesus lived and worked at Nazareth, often stayed at Capernaum, and performed the first miracle at Cana (at a relative’s home), and at Mount Tabor Jesus is transfigured.
In contrast, Jesus spent his last days/weeks of earthly life in and around Jerusalem. Despite the crowds that welcomed him with the Hosannas, the tide turns against him here. False accusations, betrayals, denials, calls for death-sentence, all that can go wrong in one’s life, have gone wrong (our faith helps us realize that through all of this Jesus is accomplishing God’s will). The rugged road turns thorny as it moves from Gethsemane to Gabbatha, Golgotha to the tomb in the Garden. These have been the darkest hours where falsehood prevailed, where terror and violence reigned.
After all that has happened, for the Risen Lord and for the frightened disciples, returning to Jerusalem appears to be the best thing to do. Walking from Jerusalem to Nazareth, about 140 km north, would have taken several days for them.
Of course, Jerusalem has been the centre of Jesus’ life (religious, cultural, social and political) as it was for the Jewish people. As a child Jesus was taken there, and later he visited Jerusalem temple numerous times. He taught at the temple, and, finally there he overturned the cash-exchanging tables.
Near Jerusalem are places such as Bethlehem, Bethany, Jericho, Emmaus. Although he was born in Bethlehem, in utter poverty and helplessness, we have no idea if Jesus loved to visit Bethlehem, or if he visited it at all! Bethany, a village on the outskirts of the city, was his favourite place, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Possibly, Jesus stayed there more than in the city during his visits.
Why do three evangelists emphasize on ‘going back to Galilee?’ Of course, in John’s Gospel, Jesus appears to the apostles in Jerusalem and the city remains the centre of post-resurrectional teaching and activities. So, it is important to hold all these together.
Back to the point: why does Galilee come into the picture and what do we get from it, spiritually? The disciples are from here and many may still have their homes and families, lands and boats. Remember that they were ever ready to fish, in case…!
It is here that first they heard the ‘call.’ Jesus spoke to them, unlike any other, and those life-giving words woke them up. Not only did Jesus turn water into wine, but he taught and healed, explained the Scriptures and shared the meal.
Galilee stands for the beginning, for the disciples, and for us. The disciples became courageous, ready to go anywhere and to preach good news, even if it meant facing opposition and death.
At Easter and in the weeks to come, we must return to our own Galilees: we need to spend time so that we can discover the Lord, and in light of this, we will find ourselves.
In Galilee the eyes of the disciples were opened so that they could realize what can be accomplished if we follow Him. As it was for the early followers, and now for us, after being with him and listening to him in Galilee, prayer and power, family and clan would mean very different things. The mustard seed will remind us of the Kingdom, the grain of wheat will tell us of what abundant-life-beyond-death means and how like salt, by being nowhere, we learn to be everywhere.
Galilee means to live fearlessly and faithfully, to let the new life in the Lord take over. Once the stone is rolled away, once light enters into our hearts, we can boldly shout ‘were not our hearts burning when he spoke?’
If we go to our Galilees and if we let the Risen Lord transform and renew us, then we will taste these sacred gifts, gifts of joy and peace, and share with those on the peripheries.
(Jesuit Father Stanislaus Alla is a Moral Theology professor at Delhi’s Vidyajyoti College.)
A nice reflection