Homily for Lazarus Saturday
By Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
By Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
“By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your Passion, You confirmed the universal resurrection, O Christ God. Therefore we also, like the children, bearing the symbols of victory, cry out to You, the Conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
If we believe that Christ is truly the Conqueror of death and the “Firstborn from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:20), then this means that not only did Christ rise, but we too will one day rise. By believing in Christ’s Resurrection, we believe not only in His resurrection, but also in our own.
The Lord said that the day will come “when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live… and will come forth: those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:25, 29). For everyone this day will come — both fearful and, at the same time, joyful. Whether we want it or not, all of us will rise from the graves, called by the Word of God from death to life. All must submit to this law that is set as the foundation of creation. But for some, this day will be one of the greatest joys, while for others it will be a day of terror and weeping.
For those who in this life followed the path of faith, who built within their souls the Kingdom of God, who already here on earth acquired a foretaste of eternal life, that day will be a day of joy. “Truly, truly, I say to you,” said the Lord, “he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24). Venerable Sergius and Venerable Seraphim will not come to judgment, because they believed in the Lord and were raised in soul before the resurrection of the body. Therefore, on the last day of the general resurrection, when they hear the Lord’s voice, they will rise and rejoice. But for many, that day will be a day of mourning and sorrow, a day of great fear. The terror is not simply that we will die — because even now many people, living not in the beautiful world created by God but in the dark world of passions they have created themselves, are burdened by life and even wish to end it. The terror lies in the fact that we will not only die, but also rise again — and for many this will be a “resurrection of judgment.” If we truly believed the Lord’s words, we would understand why we do not genuinely rejoice in Christ’s Resurrection, and why the thought of our own resurrection fills us with fear. We would realize that this happens because, while living on earth, we do not build the Kingdom of God within ourselves and do not walk the path toward eternal life.
Foretelling the great day of the universal resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ, before His Passion, raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus, who had lain in the tomb for four days, heard the Lord’s voice calling him to life: “Lazarus, come out!” And the man who had died came out, bound hand and foot with burial cloths (John 11:43–44).
The raising of Lazarus was not a violation of the natural order, but a confirmation — or, as the troparion says, an “assurance” — of the law of universal resurrection established by God as the foundation of creation. This law is terrifying for sinners but infinitely joyful for the righteous. It would be so for us as well, if we came to church today not only with branches, but with the branches of virtues that should blossom in our souls.
Throughout the entire Forty Days of Lent, the Church has led us along the path of repentance and purification of the soul, along the path of cultivating virtues, along the path of the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection. Let us remember what the great hymnographers of the Church call us to — those who guide our souls on the path of repentance — especially in these last days, when together with the Lord and His disciples we journeyed beyond the Jordan to Bethany and Jerusalem: “Come, let us prepare to meet the Lord, bringing Him branches of virtues; thus we shall receive Him, as in the city of Jerusalem, worshiping Him in our souls and singing to Him” (Tuesday of Palms, Matins, Ode 9).
The Church has given us many spiritual consolations in these holy days. Truly, the time of Great Lent could have been bright and joyful for us, if we had spent it in repentance, if everything we did during these days we offered to the Lord from a contrite heart. And now, this evening, we will stand in church holding lighted candles and blooming branches, which the Church calls “symbols of victory.” Both the branches and the candles are only outward expressions of the feast — they are signs of an inner spiritual celebration. The branches symbolize victory over sin and the spiritual flowering of our souls, while the flame of the candles reminds us of the grace-filled fire that Christ came to kindle within us.
Today we stand on the threshold of the great days — the Passion of the Lord. Let us at least now understand that what awaits us is either the greatest joy or the greatest terror of the resurrection. There is no third path. Therefore, as we approach the Lord’s Passion, let us put aside our passions.
It is not too late, even now, to begin the path of purification of the soul — for even on the very day of the Resurrection we will sing: “Let us purify our senses, and we shall see.” The Lord is going to His voluntary Passion, to be crucified for us. Can it be that even now we will not put aside everything that prevents us from being united with Him — hatred, anger, slander, in which we ourselves suffocate? Can it be that even now we will not understand that all of us will rise, and that many will rise to weeping and lamentation? Let not death frighten us, but rather that, having risen, we will realize how vainly we lived this life.
The Church warns us and cautions us not to become like those who “have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them” (Matt. 13:15).
So let us, in these holy days, put aside the passions that rule over us and direct all the strength of our souls to the service of the Lord. Then, even while living here on earth, we will open our hearts to eternity, we will rejoice in life, and within us there will arise a longing for eternal life. Day by day, our souls will open more and more to the knowledge of the eternal.
And then, no longer with fear but with great joy, we will think about the day of the final resurrection. Then we will not stand in dread before the judgment seat, but will rejoice as we behold the Lord on that day.
To this the Church calls us in the words of today’s troparion: “Therefore we also, like the children, bearing the symbols of victory, cry out to You, the Conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
