POPE BENEDICT ON THE RESURRECTION

My previous post dealt with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XVI had a very interesting observation about the earth shaking reality and historical turning point of the Resurrection. 

In his 2011 book JESUS OF NAZARETH, HOLY WEEK: FROM THE ENTRANCE INTO JERUSALEM TO THE RESURRECTION, the pontiff observed that the early church was made up almost entirely of Jews whose culture strictly observed the Sabbath for centuries. From its beginning, the Christian community gathered for worship on the first day: Sunday (cf. 1 Corinthians 16.2; Acts. 20.7; Revelation 1.10). Pope Benedict noted that Ignatius of Antioch (who died around AD 67) gave clear evidence that for early Christians Sunday had supplanted the Sabbath: Ignatius wrote: 

"We have seen how former adherents of the ancient customs have since attained to a new hope; so that they have given up keeping the Sabbath and now order their lives by the Lord's day instead (the day when life first dawned for us, thanks to him and his death." (Ad Magn., 9:1) 

Pope Benedict commented:

"If we bear in mind the immense importance attached to the Sabbath in the Old Testament tradition on the basis of the Creation account and the Decalogue, then it is clear that only an event of extraordinary impact could have led to the abandonment of the Sabbath and its replacement by the first day of the week. Only an event that marked souls indelibly could bring about such a profound realignment in the religious culture of the week."

The Pope then said, "For me, the celebration of the Lord's Day,

which was a characteristic part of the Christian community from the outset, is one of the most convincing proofs that something extraordinary happened that day -- the discovery  of the empty tomb and the encounter with the risen Lord."

Indeed, and I believe this convincing proof will dawn to a new generation. -- Mark