On Great Saturday
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
We have now accompanied the Lord; we have beheld His mysterious image of the Resurrection. This is a wondrous and fearful night, in which began the universal process of the overturning of the cosmos. The true world revolution takes place without gunfire and the roar of weapons, but in the silence of a cave on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is invisible to all — both to angels and to men. When God acts, He speaks through deeds — through reality itself. From that very night when God created the world out of nothing, He now reshapes and recreates the world, broken by the ancient transgression of Adam and Satan.
And from this moment, from this very night, begins the process of resurrection from the dead. We know that Christ rose from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. First is Christ, and after Him will follow all people — both those who belong to Christ and those who have rejected Him. All received the gift of being in their birth, and all will receive the gift of resurrection. This gift — the restoration of our bodies — is given freely to all, and it takes place on the great Paschal night, when Christ within Himself restores humanity anew.
The soul of Christ is reunited with His Body, which is transfigured, all death being burned away. Christ rose in a Body that no longer needs food or drink, nor is subject to the influences of the elements of the world. It remains connected to material laws, yet the Lord has mastery over them: He passes through closed doors, as He passed on the Paschal night through the burial shroud and the stone of the tomb. And now this gift is given to all people. All receive the gift of the resurrection of the body, but not all receive the gift of the resurrection of the soul, which also flows from the risen Body of Jesus, yet depends upon the will of the person.
If a person accepts Christ, he already on earth participates in the first resurrection, of which the Apostle John spoke: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over such the second death has no power” (Rev. 20:6).
In this first resurrection, the inner powers of a person — those planted within him at holy baptism — are opened: spiritual sight, hearing, touch, and perception. He begins to see other realities, hidden beneath the crust of matter, which in truth shape the whole history of the world and are the true realities that govern it.
Indeed, a person truly rises when he sees God. As Symeon the New Theologian says: “For man, death is not to see God, and life is to see Him.” For the one who sees God participates in God. One cannot see God without being immersed in Him. This resurrection flows from the Resurrection of Christ. He restores our souls, our will — which becomes diamond - strong like that of the martyrs — He restores the mind, revealing mysteries of wisdom previously unknown to mankind.
God unveils the mysteries of Scripture, the mysteries of prophecy, the mysteries of the future, the present, and the past. All the senses of a person are strengthened, and he begins to receive divine love. Yet all this takes place with the participation of human will: if one desires it, he receives it. And all this flows from this wondrous night, in which we await the Resurrection of Christ. According to an ancient tradition preserved among Greek Christians, I will now read to you a passage from the Gospel of John, which recounts what happened on this night, in imitation of which we will now go forth in procession.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. (John 20:1-18)
We, as it were, are present at all this. We see how the disciples run through the city and cannot believe that death has been conquered, that the great overturning has taken place, and that we are once again at the dawn of creation. Again the Heavenly Gardener walks in the restored Paradise and gives the fruits of immortality. He grants us the possibility to rise and to live His life, His joy. Now, as we partake in this joy, we light our lamps from the altar light, remembering the great miracle that the Lord accomplished. When Mary entered the cave, she saw the linen cloths lying there, because the cave was filled with a mysterious light, which since then burns at the same time in that very tomb (the Holy Light). And this light signifies the light of life.
Imagine this: the time will come — we shall die, and then the day will come when our soul will return again to the body. This will happen on the day of the general resurrection, when the Lord calls us. And what shall we see first with our eyes? We lie in the graves and hear the voice of God calling us out of the tombs. The sound of the trumpet resounds over the expanses of the graves, and we hear the voice of the risen Jesus, who says: “Arise! The time of resurrection has come! The time of life has come!”
And hearing the voice of God, we shall all rise and see a great light, for fire will encompass the whole world and transform all creation. This light will be the light of life, because after this light death will never follow again, for it will be burned out of the world by the great fire of the Holy Spirit, which will embrace all creation. Its beginning has already appeared, having its source in the Holy Fire from the Lord’s Tomb.
God will transform the whole world, driving out of it corruption and death. Then we shall see the light of life which will never end. And the image of this eternal fire will now be our lighted lamps, with which we will go around the church, to meet Jesus, who said to the Myrrhbearing women: “Rejoice! I have risen from the dead! I have destroyed death! I have crushed Satan!”
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!” (Ps. 106:1).
“For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with good things” (Ps. 106:9).
“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds apart. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His mercy and for His wondrous works to the sons of men; for He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two” (Ps. 106:14–16).
May God help us with His uncreated Light!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.