In the forty days
between the Resurrection and the Ascension, our Lord
appeared to numerous individuals and to various groups,
including some five hundred on one occasion, and at last to
the group who witnessed his ascent to glory in a cloud of
light. A forensic investigator would logically ask why he
did not appear to those who had crucified him, to those who
had plotted against him, and to Pontius Pilate. Napoleon, in
an amalgamation of pragmatism, cynicism and fascination, is
said to have remarked that Jesus could have converted the
whole Empire had he appeared from the dead in front of
Caesar in the Roman Forum.
God’s ways are not our ways, and were it
otherwise, there would have been no Holy Passion. But the
same Saint Peter who had been appalled that Christ must die
on the cross, was the first to enter the empty tomb and then
proclaimed on Pentecost that he and others had seen the
Lord. The question lingers though, about why Christ did not
stun his enemies with his victory. Reports of his
resurrection did cause some panic among the Sanhedrin and
others, and the soldiers feared they might be to blame for
having been neglectful watchmen, but none of the chief
players in this greatest of all dramas, as far as we
know, had any encounter with the Risen Christ. One
tradition holds that Pontius Pilate spent his last days
wandering in exile, haunted because he could not be
inspired.
As usual, the fertile mind of John Henry Newman
proposes that that Christ did not show himself to all
people, because appearing only to chosen witnesses
“was the most effectual means of propagating His
religion through the world.” Had his murderers seen
him, they would have reacted with “sudden fears,
sudden contrition, sudden earnestness, sudden resolves,
which disappear suddenly.” By a strategy more
pragmatic than any general’s, Christ comforted,
encouraged and prepared a few to convert the many, for
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” So
Newman says, “Doubtless, much may be undone by the
many, but nothing is done except by those who are specially
trained for action.”
Many saw Christ resuscitate the daughter of
Jairus and the son of the widow of Nain, to no lasting
effect, for then as now, excitement is momentary and even
threatening: the raising of Lazarus was what finally
compelled the authorities to kill Jesus. Spectacles are not
divine graces, and while false Messiahs can give people a
thrill, only the true Messiah can give grace. “If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rise from the dead” (Luke
16:31).
Peter, the chief witness, was trained the hard
way through his own denials and repentance, and he continues
to confirm others in the Faith through his apostolic
successors: “This is a cause of great joy for
you” (1 Peter 1:6).
