Gospel in Art: Easter Monday

Christ Carrying the Cross, with the Crucifixion; The Resurrection, with the Pilgrims of Emmaus, by Gerard David, 1510 © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Gospel of 6 April 2026
Matthew 28:8-15

At that time: The women departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell the disciples of Jesus. And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, 'Tell people, "His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep." And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.' So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Reflection on the painting

Today's Gospel reveals that the opposition to Jesus did not end with his death; even his rising was resisted. Just as his earthly life had been rejected and brought to an end, so too there were attempts to silence the truth of the empty tomb. The religious authorities convened and agreed upon a version of events to explain it away: that the disciples had come by night and taken the body. In this way, the one who had been executed as a criminal would have his followers discredited as deceivers. Yet these efforts to distort what happened, could not hold. The authorities could end Jesus' earthly life, but they could not end Jesus' risen life!

The risen Lord did not remain hidden. He revealed himself first to the women who came in faith to the tomb, and then to the disciples in Galilee. As Saint Paul later testifies, many others also encountered the risen Christ, and some of them were still living when he wrote to the Corinthians decades later. Many people saw the risen Lord. And those who had seen him could not remain silent; they became witnesses, proclaiming his life, death, and resurrection to all, Jew and Gentile alike. What was once suppressed now spreads... and it was unstoppable!

We, too, are invited into this same movement of Easter: to personally encounter Jesus and then to carry that outward. Like the women at the tomb, like the apostles in Jerusalem, like the many witnesses after who saw the risen Lord, we are invited to meet Him and then not to keep that encounter to ourselves. The joy of Easter is never meant to remain enclosed; it longs to be shared, to be spoken, to be lived. Faith spreads not by force, but by witness.

Today's painting shows us that after the Cross (depicted in the left panel), and after the Resurrection (depicted on the right), the story does not end... it continues. In the background of that right panel, almost quietly, we see Christ appearing to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. This work by Gerard David, circa 1510, was part of what were once wings of a larger altarpiece. In our painted panels the Crucifixion anchors us in the darkness of Good Friday, the Resurrection bursts forth in the foreground, and yet, almost gently, in the background, the true repercussion of the events show: that Jesus encounters and that faith spreads. This is the dynamic of Easter: Christ appears, hearts are set ablaze, and the message spreads.

LINKS

Christian Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reading: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-28-8-15-2026/