Bones are Good

Really believing in the resurrection of the body

04/17/2022

Jn 20:1-9 On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

I will never forget the day one of our Scripture professors in seminary asked this startling question: “If tomorrow archeologists unearthed the bones of Jesus, and proved beyond any doubt by carbon-dating those bones belonged to a 33 year-old carpenter from Galilee who was executed by crucifixion under orders from Pontius Pilate, what would you do?” He left that question hanging in the air for several uneasy minutes as we all felt the weight of what he was suggesting.

Some of us thought: well, even if Jesus did NOT rise from the dead, at least he was still a great moral teacher and we should still follow him. Others may have mused that the soul is what really matters so it does not matter if they find Jesus’ bones or his body. And still others may have felt as shocked and speechless as I did. We did not know what to think. Finally, he broke the awkward silence and said: “If they find the bones of Jesus tomorrow, I would leave the priesthood and marry the first beautiful blonde woman I find!”

We all laughed trying to imagine what beautiful blonde woman would want to marry our old seminary professor. It would be easier for our professor to find the bones than the blonde! St. Paul said something similar to our old professor, though in 1 Co 15, writing: “If Christ has not been raised…We are the most pitiable of all people.” In other words, if tomorrow they find the bones of Jesus, we would be fools to have faith in Christ and follow him. It is no exaggeration to assert that the whole truth of Christianity, indeed, even the coming of Christ at all, hinges on the fact of the Resurrection. If they find the bones of Jesus tomorrow, we can all go home, because Jesus would have been a joke.

I love the song “The Bones” by Maren Morris because she too talks about why the bones matter. The refrain goes: “When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter…When there ain’t a crack in the foundation, Baby, I know any storm we’re facing, Will blow right over while we stay put, The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” Marin Morris is singing about the "bones" of a house, which consists of the wooden or metal framework that supports the whole structure.

But I like to apply the lyrics of that song to the resurrected, glorified bones of Jesus. Why? Well, I am convinced that archeologists will never find the bones of Jesus in a cave, but only the angels will find the bones of Jesus in heavenly glory, seated on his throne. Ps 127:1 reads: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build.” You see, the Resurrection of Jesus is God building the house of our Lord's glorified Body - God raising his bones from the dead - and that is why “the house don’t fall when the bones are good.” God has raised the house of Jesus' Body. Jesus’ bones are not on earth, they are in eternity.

Today’s gospel recounts the reaction of the very first person to witness and testify that archeologists will never find the bones of Jesus. Mary of Magdala goes to visit Jesus’ tomb on the first Easter Sunday, and finds it empty. She runs back to the apostles to report: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” In other words, we don’t know where they put Jesus’ bones!

But later they would learn what happened to Jesus’ bones, when they finally understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. That is, God raised up Jesus’ bones and his flesh on the third day in a new glorified body, bones and all. When God builds the house, the builders do not labor in vain. “The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” Jesus' bones in heaven were not just good, they were glorious.

My friends, it can be startling to think about finding the bones of Jesus and what that would do to our faith. But do you ever wonder what will happen to your own bones? I am afraid many people today, even among Catholic Christians, feel like all that matters is the soul and the bones don’t matter at all. Like us in the seminary, Catholics today think we can still believe in Jesus, even if there is no Resurrection for him or for us. Perhaps we, too, like the apostles do not yet understand the meaning of the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.

We see this false belief when people scatter ashes over a lake or on a mountain or divide the ashes of loved ones among the children. I know people do that without any bad intentions or ill will, but we are saying with our actions that the bones don’t matter. But they do matter. The reason the Church teaches we must bury the body or inurn it in a niche in a columbarium is because what happened to Jesus will one day happen to us. That is, at the end of time archeologists will not be able to find our bones, but only the angels will see them in heaven. Our bones will not be on earth but in eternity.

The Resurrection is what makes Easter Sunday so remarkable and the reason we rejoice. Today like Mary and Peter and John, and my old seminary professor, we begin to perceive the Resurrection of Jesus and we believe the promise of our own Resurrection, the resurrection of the body, even the bones. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. “The house don’t fall when the bones are good.” One day, our bones will be as “good” as the bones of Jesus; indeed, our bones, like our Lord's will be glorified.

Praised be Jesus Christ!