Sunday of Holy Pascha
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
1. The Bright Resurrection of Christ
By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko
1. The Bright Resurrection of Christ
There are many bright and solemn feasts in the Holy Orthodox Church; but none is brighter and more solemn, none more joyful and comforting than the great day of the Resurrection of Christ, when all is clothed in light, the heavens rejoice, the earth is glad, and the whole world celebrates the great victory of our Savior over death and Hades.
This is what the Gospel relates about this glorious and great event. Great Saturday had passed, on the night of which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemos buried the Body of Jesus. The tomb in which He was laid was sealed with a great stone; a guard stood by it — the chief priests and Pharisees persuaded Pilate and set it there to guard the tomb until the third day, lest the disciples of Christ come by night, steal His body, and say to the people: 'He has risen from the dead" (cf. Matt. 27:64). But on the third day after His sufferings on the Cross and His death, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, according to the writings of the prophets. This took place after midnight from Saturday to the following day (now Sunday). The soldiers who stood guard saw that after the Resurrection of the Savior an Angel rolled away the stone from the tomb, and they were witnesses of the earthquake that occurred at that time. The appearance of the Angel who rolled away the stone, according to the Evangelist Matthew, was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow (cf. Matt. 28:3). This appearance of the Angel, his radiant garment, was a living expression of his heavenly joy and the bright triumph in heaven, which on this great day, according to the testimony of the Holy Church, was filled with a special light. Struck and terrified by this miracle, the soldiers fell down and for some time remained as if senseless. Coming to themselves, they went and told everything that had happened to the chief priests. And they, bribing the soldiers, instructed them to say to the people that during the night, while they were asleep, the disciples of Jesus Christ came and stole the body of their Teacher. But this malicious and absurd invention of the enemies of Christ did not succeed: the truth of Christ’s Resurrection was in a short time testified to the whole world and became its possession.
According to Church tradition, on the very first day after His Resurrection the Lord appeared first of all to His Most Pure Mother; but in the Gospel nothing is said about this appearance of the Risen Lord to the Mother of God. In accordance with this tradition, the Holy Church sings in her hymns, addressing the Theotokos: “Having beheld the Resurrection of your Son and God, rejoice with the apostles, O Pure One, full of God’s grace; and the first ‘Rejoice’ you did receive, since you have received the cause of the joy of all, O All-immaculate Mother of God.”
Then followed other appearances of the Risen Lord, and all the faithful learned of this joyful and great event. Early at dawn on the first day of the week, on which Jesus Christ rose, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome hastened to the tomb with the precious spices they had prepared, to anoint the Body of the Lord. Entering the garden and knowing that the stone placed at the entrance of the cave was very large, the Myrrhbearing women said among themselves: “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” Mary Magdalene, impelled by deep sorrow and ardent love for the Lord, went ahead of all and found the stone rolled away. She entered the cave and, not finding the Body of the Lord, hurried to inform the apostles Peter and John: "They have taken away the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him" (John 20:2). Soon the other women also came and likewise found with astonishment the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Perplexed at what had happened, they saw an Angel in a shining white garment sitting on the right side of the cave. The women were afraid, but the Angel said: “Do not be afraid; I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here: He is risen; remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise again” (Luke 24:5–7). “Come, see the place where the Lord lay; and go quickly, tell His disciples and Peter that He is risen from the dead and goes before you into Galilee; there you will see Him” (cf. Matt. 28:5–7). The Myrrhbearers remembered the words of Jesus Christ. Quickly leaving the tomb, they ran with fear and great joy to announce to the disciples the angelic message.
Meanwhile, having learned of what had happened from Mary Magdalene, Peter and John hurried to the tomb. They both ran together; but John ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. And stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not enter the cave. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb, and saw the linen cloths lying, and the cloth that had been on the head of Jesus, not lying with the linen cloths but folded together in a place by itself. Then John also entered, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know from the Scripture that Christ must rise from the dead (cf. John 20:4–9). After this, the disciples returned again to their own place, marveling at what had happened.
But Mary Magdalene, overcome with sorrow, stood outside the tomb and wept. She stooped down to look inside and saw Angels in white garments sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the Body of Jesus had lain. “Woman, why are you weeping?” the Angels asked her. Mary answered: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing there, but did not recognize Him. Jesus said to her: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said: “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him.” Then Jesus said to her in His gentle and sweetest voice: “Mary!” This voice penetrated to the depths of her soul — she recognized the Lord and cried out with joy: “Teacher!” — and rushed toward Him, wishing to fall at His feet; but the Lord gently stopped her: “Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them: I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:13–17). Filled with reverent fear, Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples what had happened: “I have seen the Lord.”
All this took place early in the morning before sunrise. Mary’s message did not remain unconfirmed. The other Myrrhbearing women also met Jesus Christ, who said to them: “Rejoice!” And they, seized with awe, fell at His feet. “Do not be afraid,” the Lord said to them, “but go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me” (Matt. 28:10).
On that same day the Risen Savior appeared to Peter, and then to two disciples who were going from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. He conversed with them and at supper broke bread. But the other Apostles, having heard from Mary Magdalene and the other Myrrhbearing women about the Resurrection of the Lord, still did not believe this message until finally they were convinced by seeing it themselves. In the evening of that same day the Risen Jesus appeared to all the Apostles (except the Apostle Thomas, who later came to believe in the Resurrection of the Lord) in the upper room in Jerusalem, when the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. Standing in their midst, the Lord said to them: “Peace be unto you!” — and showed them His hands and feet pierced by nails. To convince the Apostles even more that He was the same Savior, He asked for food and ate a portion of fish and some honey.
The Apostles, being convinced that this was truly Christ, rejoiced with inexpressible joy. Thus began on earth the bright celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. It was a universal celebration: together with the earth, heaven with its radiant inhabitants rejoiced in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His victory over death, and even the underworld, where until that day the souls of all who had died before the coming of the Lord were held; on this day, in the words of the Church hymn, “all things were filled with light: heaven, and earth, and the things beneath the earth…”.
2. The Paschal Gospel
No feast is celebrated among us as solemnly as the feast of Pascha, or the Bright Resurrection of Christ; the entire Paschal service is directed toward awakening in the hearts of the faithful joy in the Risen Christ, who by death trampled down death and granted eternal life. Among the distinctive features of the Paschal service is the solemn reading of the Holy Gospel in different languages; by this is expressed the thought that the word of God, according to the command of the Risen Lord: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), must be proclaimed to all, so that no people may remain who cannot partake in the radiant joy of Christ’s Resurrection. For the reading on the first day of Pascha, the Gospel of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian is chosen, which begins with the words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...” The teaching about God the Word, that is, Jesus Christ, is so exalted that even pagans listened to it with amazement. One pagan philosopher said that the opening words of this Gospel ought to be written in golden letters in the highest places. Therefore it is rightly that the Evangelist John is called the Theologian par excellence. The Gospel of John, read on the first day of Pascha, is very difficult for most Orthodox to understand, and we, with God’s help, will try briefly to explain it for the glory of the Risen Lord and for our own edification.
“In the beginning was the Word”: in the very beginning, when the world did not yet exist, the Word of God, that is, the Son of God, already existed. Why is the Son of God called the Word? In order to express His incorporeal birth. Just as an ordinary word, proceeding from our mind, when unspoken remains hidden within us, but when spoken becomes manifest and expresses our thoughts, feelings, and desires, so also the Son of God, having one essence with God the Father, reveals and makes known the counsels and will of God to thousands upon thousands of believers.
“And the Word was with God”: the Son of God eternally abides with God the Father, always was with Him inseparably.
“And the Word was God”: the Divine Word always was and is God - equal and consubstantial with the Father.
“He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made”: everything that we see on earth and in heaven, and what we do not see (for example, the Angels) — all came into being through the Word of God, and without His participation nothing that exists came to be. These words are explained by the Apostle Paul when he says: “By Him, that is, by the Son of God, all things were created, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible... all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:16–17). All things were made through Him, but not independently of the Father, rather together with the Father.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”: in the Son of God is contained all life; He gives life to everything and sustains it; being Life for all, for mankind He was the enlightening and sanctifying Light.
“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it”: just as ordinary light shines in the darkness, illumines things and dispels the darkness, so also the Son of God, the true Light, enlightened people wandering in the darkness of ignorance and idolatry — and the darkness could not extinguish this heavenly Light. The Son of God appeared in the world, and this Light, which shone dimly in the Old Testament, began to shine in full brilliance. Such an important event as the coming of the Son of God into the world, the incarnation of the Word of God, could not take place without prior announcement. And indeed, there were many prophecies about this event, and all — especially the Jews — awaited with impatience the promised Messiah. And now this long-awaited time came; first appeared the great ascetic and preacher of repentance, Saint John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, son of the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth, a relative of the Most Holy Virgin Mary.
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all might believe through him” (John 1:6–7). He was sent by God in order to prepare the way of the Lord, to incline people to receive Him who was coming after him. Although John the Baptist was the greatest of the prophets, according to the testimony of the Savior Himself: “Among those born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (cf. Matt. 11:11), nevertheless he was not the Light, but only a witness of the Light.
“He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which enlightens every man coming into the world.” The true Light is Jesus Christ.
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” This Light — the Son of God — had long been in the world, and the world was created through Him, but since the world was immersed in darkness and ignorance, it did not recognize the true Light, because darkness fears the light. The Jews, who had more knowledge of God than others, ought to have received the Savior with joy, but it did not turn out so: they did not receive Him as their Messiah; and this people, who willingly listened to the saving teaching of Jesus and so often received help from His beneficent power, nevertheless treacherously allowed the Savior to be led bound to judgment before the elders, without even raising their voice in His defense.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” To those among the Jews who received Him and believed in Him, Jesus Christ gave the right to be called children of God — not by physical birth, but by the grace of God, by spiritual birth in the Mystery of Baptism. All believers may boldly address God: “Our Father...”
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Although the Son of God became incarnate, that is, became man, the glory of His divinity remained inseparable from Him: He was the God-man; and His glory as the Only-Begotten Son of God was seen by the Apostles (especially at the Transfiguration), and also by John the Baptist.
“John bears witness of Him and cried out, saying: This was He of whom I said: He who comes after me has become before me, for He was before me.” John the Baptist says that He is the One of whom I said: He who comes after me, who appeared after me, has become before me, higher and greater than I, because as the beginningless Word He existed eternally and was before me.
“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace; for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16–17): from the fullness of His divinity we have all received the fullness of grace-filled gifts, which were not in the Old Testament; at that time there was only the Law, given by God through Moses, but now, with the coming of Jesus Christ to earth, the time of grace and truth has come.
Such are the profound thoughts contained in the Paschal Gospel: here is the teaching about God the Word, about the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity — the Son of God, eternal and omnipresent, who for our sake came down from heaven and was incarnate.
Such are the profound thoughts contained in the Paschal Gospel: here is the teaching about God the Word, about the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity — the Son of God, eternal and omnipresent, who for our sake came down from heaven and was incarnate.
Continued
