6. The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ – The Joy of All Joys
We must rejoice, remembering that great and glorious day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the Tomb and by His Resurrection delivered us also from death. God Himself desires that we spend the feast of the Resurrection of Christ in joy and gladness, and therefore He often sends on this day unexpected joy to His faithful sons who are in some difficult circumstances.
In one book there is told of such an event. Before a certain bishop, an innocent priest was slandered. Shortly before Pascha this priest was taken into custody and kept in prison. On the night from Great Saturday to Bright Resurrection an Angel of God appears to the priest and says: “By the will of God you are freed from this confinement; you are given freedom so that in your parish village on the first day of Pascha you may serve the Liturgy.” Having said this, the Angel led the priest out of the prison and escorted him to the village. The guard informed the bishop about the disappearance of the priest from the prison, saying that this happened in a miraculous way, because the key to the lock was kept by him. The bishop sent a messenger to the village to find out whether the priest had served the Liturgy there. Having verified that he had, the bishop became angry and decided with dishonor to subject him again to imprisonment. But the Angel of God, after the completion of the service, with the consent of the priest, returned him to the same prison.
The bishop summons the priest to himself and hears from him such a justification: “I was freed from the prison and returned there not by my own will. For this was the will of God Himself, who twice sent an Angel to me.” The bishop made inquiries whether any of those serving at the prison had been guilty in the secret removal and return of the priest. It turned out that no one had. Having become convinced that the priest had suffered dishonor in vain, the bishop forgave the priest and ordered him to continue his service, and those who had slandered him he strictly punished. Thus God Himself takes care that on such a feast as Bright Resurrection His holy service is performed in His temple.
In the life of the Venerable Paphnutius of Borovsk it is told that in the monastery where the Venerable one lived, once, for the day of Holy Pascha, to the sorrow of the brethren, there was no fish. Venerable Paphnutius said to them for consolation: “Do not grieve about this, the Lord will console us.” And indeed, on Great Saturday the sexton, who went out to the overflowing river to draw water for the divine service, noticed in the water such a large shoal of fish that, when it was caught, it turned out that the fish would suffice for all the brethren for the whole Paschal week. It is remarkable that fish in such quantity in that river neither before nor after that Pascha was ever seen. Who, if not God, wondrously compelled this fish to gather into such a dense shoal, in order to gladden the brethren, so that their Paschal joy would not be darkened by a lack of fish?¹
In the life of the Venerable Benedict there is also told about a certain priest who, on the occasion of the feast of Pascha, prepared for himself an abundant meal. However, in a vision the Lord appeared to him and said: “Here you have prepared much for yourself, but My servant Benedict, loving Me, is exhausted from hunger.” The priest arose and, taking food, went to look for Venerable Benedict and found him in a cave. They met with joy. “Father!” said the priest to Venerable Benedict, “let us partake of food with thanksgiving to God, since now it is Pascha.” “For me now is Pascha,” answered Venerable Benedict, “since I have been counted worthy to see you!” The Venerable one, living far from people, did not know that at that time it was the feast of Pascha. “Today,” said the priest, “truly is the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, and you ought not to fast. For this I have also been sent to you by the Lord.” Having partaken of food together with the holy ascetic, the priest returned to his village.
In 1821 in Nizhny Novgorod a maiden Irina was so ill that she could neither see, nor speak, nor walk. When it was necessary for her to go somewhere, she was carried in arms; she took food from the hands of others; if she needed to ask for something, she knocked with her hand or simply mooed. But on the first day of the Bright Resurrection of Christ the unfortunate sufferer suddenly felt strength in her legs, relief in her head, light in her eyes, freedom in her tongue, and the ability to hear. Afterwards she recounted that several days before the Bright Resurrection of Christ she had a vision in a dream. In a certain beautiful temple she saw two men: John the Baptist and some other Man in splendid hierarchical vestments. This Man commanded her to approach Him; with fear she fell at His feet and noticed on His feet and hands deep wounds. He blessed her and said: “Your sufferings have ended; on the day of My Resurrection you will be healthy!” On the day of Pascha Irina Andreeva again saw in a dream a beautiful Lady, Who, addressing her with the usual Paschal greeting “Christ is Risen!”, immediately suddenly disappeared. Waking after this vision, the sick woman felt herself completely healthy, and already on the next day of the feast of Pascha she was in church at the Divine Liturgy and at the thanksgiving moleben ordered by her for the miraculous healing.
On April 22, 1823, on the first day of Holy Pascha, after Matins, in the city of Kiev there occurred a miracle of the healing of the deaf-mute novice Maxim. Toward evening of Great Saturday, after completing his obediences, Maxim went to the large Lavra church. Sleep began to overcome him, and he went from the church to the prosphora bakery to sleep. But as soon as he dozed off, a Woman in white clothing appeared before him and commanded him to go again to the church. Having awakened, Maxim went to the church, but again he began to feel drowsy, and he returned to the prosphora bakery. But scarcely had he fallen asleep when he was awakened by the same Woman, probably the Mother of God. This was repeated a third time. Then, coming to the church and standing before the icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, Maxim heard the singing of the Paschal troparion “Christ is Risen” and saw the Woman in radiant clothing who had appeared to him in the prosphora bakery. She three times commanded him to say “Truly He is Risen!” Finally, at his silence she breathed upon his face and disappeared, and Maxim at that same moment uttered “Truly He is Risen!” After the end of the Matins singing Maxim with joy told everyone about the miracle that had occurred!.. It is remarkable that a year before the miraculous return to Maxim of the gift of speech, by the power of God his hearing had also been miraculously opened, likewise before the first morning Paschal singing.
In 1838, from Monday to Tuesday of Bright Week, the widow Anisia Stepanova, who was so deaf that she did not even hear the ringing of bells, came to the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush" (Neopalimovskaya Church) in Moscow to pray before the icon of the Mother of God called “Unexpected Joy.” During the moleben before this icon she clearly heard the singing of the Paschal troparion “Christ is Risen” and “let us now earnestly hasten to the Mother of God,” — from that time her deafness never returned to her.
Thus, God Himself desires that on the day of the glorious Resurrection of His Only-begotten Son all people should rejoice and that they should have no sorrows or griefs. Now Christ has risen — eternal gladness! Christ is risen and will raise us also for eternally blessed life with Him in heaven. He has granted us Eternal Life — this is the reason for the joy and triumph of the present Bright feast! Go around all cities, settlements, villages — and you will everywhere see that on the days of this feast all rejoice: the noble and the ignoble, the rich and the poor, the old and the young, relatives and strangers, acquaintances and those unknown, friends and enemies — all greet one another with exultation and joy at the Resurrection of Christ. Let us also rejoice and be glad with pure and holy joy, with sincere, heartfelt gladness. Our joy from our faith is even now indescribable; what then will the joy be when we see in the future life the Lord Himself? This will be the joy of all joys!
After the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, for Holy-Living People death is not to be feared.
Christ is risen and by His death trampled death, and it lost its significance. Those who believe in Jesus Christ now meet it with joy and gladness. “I most of all desire to depart from the body and to be at home with the Lord,” says about himself the Holy Apostle Paul (cf. 2 Cor. 5:8). “Death is not to be feared to me; it will sooner unite me with Christ,” said about themselves Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom.
Why is this? Because with the Resurrection of Christ the souls of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ do not go to hades, for the Risen Christ opened to all the doors of paradise into the Kingdom of Heaven. To many holy righteous ones it was revealed that the souls of the righteous, after separation from the body, were immediately carried by Angels into the Kingdom of Heaven. Thus, for example, in the life of the Venerable Anthony the Great it is told that once, when he was walking in the desert, he saw a host of Angels and the faces of the apostles and among them the Venerable Paul of Thebes ascending to heaven.
Saint Gregory the Dialogist relates that once Saint Benedict rose at night for prayer: at midnight he saw a light which shone so brightly that the night became brighter than day. Gazing attentively at that light, he saw in fiery radiance the soul of Bishop Germanus, being borne by Angels to heaven.
Also, when the venerable Ioannikios reposed, the monks saw his soul being carried by Angels to heaven.
The same is said also of the Venerable Makarios of Egypt.
That truly by the Resurrection of Christ death has been put to death and has lost its power is evident from those miraculous actions which holy people manifested in their life.
Thus, the Holy Apostles raised the dead: for example, the Holy Apostle Peter raised Tabitha for the sake of the good which she did for the poor; the Apostle Paul raised the youth Eutychus, who had fallen from a window; the Venerable Makarios of Egypt raised the husband of a certain woman in order to ask him about a hidden pledge, and also asked a murdered man to confirm the innocence of one slandered in a murder, and he gave his answer. The Venerable Patermuphius once asked an already dead monk what was better for him: having died, to live with Christ or to return and live in the body — to which he, having been raised, said: “Why have you raised me? For me it is much better to live with Christ; I do not want to live in the body.” “Then sleep and pray for me to the Lord,” said Patermuphius.
7. The Resurrection of Christ – the triumph of faith, virtue, and hope
The Christian Pascha has always been celebrated with full solemnity. Even when Christians did not yet have churches, being persecuted by pagans, they concealed their worship in caves and in the abysses of the earth, yet the remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ was already the cause of a celebration so bright and so prolonged that one of the ancient defenders of Christianity, Tertullian, said to all pagans: “Your feasts, taken all together, cannot compare in their duration with the single Christian Pascha.”
Indeed, the Resurrection of our Lord itself is the feast of feasts and the festival of festivals. It is the highest triumph of faith, for by it our faith is established, exalted, deified; it is the highest triumph of virtue, for in it the purest virtue triumphed over the greatest temptation; it is the highest triumph of hope, for it serves as the most certain pledge of the most magnificent promises.
I. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the highest triumph of faith.
The Apostle Paul, one of the foremost preachers of the faith, wrote to his Corinthian disciples: “If Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). That is, if Christ did not rise, then all the truths of our faith lose their power, the gospel and preaching no longer have dignity, all Christianity is an empty name.
A striking thought, but completely true and indisputable! For on what is all our faith founded? “Having been built,” answers the Holy Paul, “upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). The risen Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith; He is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (cf. Heb. 3:1). But why did this stone, rejected by the builders, become for us the head of the corner and marvelous in our eyes? (cf. Matt. 21:42). Why do we recognize in Him Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God? (1 Cor. 1:24). We have very many proofs of this, but all of them would be insufficient without the Resurrection of our Lord.
Let us imagine that we belong to the number of people who followed the Lord from the beginning to the end of His earthly ministry, heard all His discourses, saw all the deeds performed by Him. While He opened the eyes of the blind and raised the dead, we would, of course, calmly follow Him and exclaim with the apostles: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” (John 6:69). But then comes the terrible hour of suffering: a disciple betrays Him, the senseless synagogue rejects Him as a deceiver, the unreasoning Pilate condemns Him as a rebel; Jesus — our hope — is lifted up on the Cross with criminals; the Father Himself leaves Him; He dies in torment and is buried; even His tomb is sealed with the seal of Caiaphas. What then would have become of us, of our faith, if He had not risen? “We had hoped that it was He who would redeem Israel… and besides all this” (Luke 24:21), He remained in the tomb — this is what each of us would have said.
Indeed, it is impossible to think that our faith would then have proved firmer than the faith of the apostles. But what happened to them after the death of the Lord? Did not all of them waver in their belief in Him? And without this certainty would they have gone out to preach to the whole world and given their lives for its truth? And without their preaching would the world, immersed in the darkness of paganism, have turned to the Christian faith?
And what would the apostles have begun to preach without the Resurrection of their Teacher? How would they have said: “He who believes in the Son of God has eternal life” (cf. John 3:36), when the Son of God Himself would have remained dead? How would they have said: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8), when everyone would know that He once lived, then died, and did not rise?
Thus, without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, His tomb would have been at the same time the tomb of the Christian faith: because all who had previously believed in Him would have ceased to believe; because no one would have taken upon himself the labor of preaching faith in One who died and did not rise; because, finally, that preaching itself would not have deserved trust.
But now the tomb of Jesus Christ is a sanctuary in which the triumph of the Christian faith was accomplished. Not without reason did Jesus Christ Himself, when the Jews demanded from Him new miracles as proof that He is the Only-begotten Son of God, answer that no other sign would be given to them except the sign of the Prophet Jonah (Matt. 12:39–40), that is, the Resurrection; not without reason, going to His sufferings, He declared that the time was coming when the Son of Man would be glorified (cf. John 13:31). In His Resurrection He was truly glorified, but, as the Apostle Paul notes, not as a prophet, nor as the Son of Man or Messiah, but as the Son of God, in Whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (cf. Col. 2:9).
Who does not recognize the Son of God in the risen Jesus?
In what splendor now appears the very Cross of Christ, on which together with Jesus, one may say, faith itself was crucified! Who does not see that this sign of curse for others — for Jesus was an altar on which the universal sacrifice was offered; that God accepted this sacrifice as a fragrance of sweetness; that the Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive honor and glory (cf. Rev. 5:12).
After this, what can shake our faith, when death itself and hades did not overcome it in the person of the Author and Finisher of faith? “I know,” once exclaimed the Apostle Paul, “I know Whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to keep what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (cf. 2 Tim. 1:12).
II. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the highest triumph of virtue.
Virtue, persecuted on earth, never completely disappeared from the face of the earth, appearing in the chosen of God, who shone as lights in the world (cf. Phil. 2:15). But what was their lot? “They were stoned, they were sawn in two… they died by the sword; they wandered in sheepskins… destitute, afflicted, tormented” (Heb. 11:37). And how often was heard the voice of complaint and sorrow: why does the way of the wicked prosper (cf. Jer. 12:1), while the righteous are cut down like ears of grain?
Providence sometimes justified its ways; more than once before the face of the whole world, which counts the life of the righteous as a mockery, virtue triumphed over vice; more than once, cast into the furnace of temptations, the righteous came out of it like pure gold, not only before the eyes of God but also before the eyes of their enemies. But the triumph of virtue always remained incomplete, since the virtue of the sons of men is always imperfect and impure. Meanwhile, in order to put to shame the triumph of the vain world, it was necessary to show a complete triumph of virtue. For this, the purest virtue, the greatest temptation, and the most perfect glory were required.
Such is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! What was all His life if not one continuous service to God and to neighbors? And yet what righteous man was shamed, despised, and tortured more than Jesus Christ?
But behold the triumph of piety in the person of the Risen One! “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:8–10). Being rich, He became poor for us (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9), He had nowhere to lay His head (cf. Matt. 8:20). And behold, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him! (Matt. 28:18). Out of love for others He gave His soul: and behold, the souls of all the sons of men are given into His power, as Redeemer and Judge!
And these are only the visible traces for us of the invisible triumph. If we, according to the promise of the Savior, were to see heaven opened (John 1:51), what a triumph of virtues would be revealed in His person before our eyes! There we would see the Son of Man, crowned with glory and honor for the suffering of death (cf. Heb. 2:9); we would see the twenty-four elders casting their crowns before the Lamb that was slain (cf. Rev. 4:10); we would see hosts of Angels, no longer ascending and descending to the Son of Man, but covering their faces from the unapproachable glory of His countenance.
What heart, loving virtue, can fail to rejoice at such a triumph of the Son of Man? This triumph is truly universal, in which even a pagan may participate. Let him not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ; it is enough if he believes in God and in virtue, to rejoice that the Holiest among the sons of men has now been so magnificently rewarded by heaven itself. The just God showed in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ how He glorifies those who love Him; He showed before the whole human race that He never forgets any labor undertaken in His name (Heb. 6:10), and that all the triumphs of the world are nothing compared with the triumph of the righteous.
III. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the highest triumph of hope.
For the human race, oppressed by every kind of misfortune, nothing can be more necessary than to see with the eye of hope that land where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing. And indeed, human thoughts and desires at all times and among all peoples have been directed beyond the limits of this life.
But who could disperse the darkness of the grave, overthrow this barrier? Philosophers appeared, but, being from the earth (cf. John 3:31), they spoke of earthly things; they boasted that they had “brought philosophy down from heaven,” but did not raise a single person to heaven. Prophets came, instructed, reproved, consoled, but then they themselves died, not having received the promises (cf. Heb. 11:39). Death reigned over the whole human race with such fierceness that in the time of Jesus Christ not only many pagan sages, but even a great part of the people of God rejected all hope of immortality, saying that there is no resurrection (Matt. 22:23).
It was necessary to raise up fallen hope and to show before the whole world that only the body of man returns to the earth, while the spirit returns to God Who gave it (cf. Eccl. 12:7). And behold, in the Resurrection of the Savior the triumph of hope is accomplished.
The grave and death were the cause of human fear and despair: the Wisdom of God turns the grave into a source of hope. Death is made to serve as a guide to immortality. For what else does the Tomb of Jesus Christ now serve, if not as proof that all graves will one day be emptied and will give up their dead? And what did the death of Jesus Christ serve, if not as assurance that death is only a guard that keeps what is entrusted to it, keeps it until it pleases the Lord of life, and that within the power of this guard is only our corruptible composition, but not the spirit, which does not at all know the grave or death!
A most certain triumph. One must decisively say that all the proofs of immortality used by reason do not have as much force as is contained in the single Resurrection of Jesus Christ. To believe in this Resurrection and to doubt our own resurrection is a complete contradiction. “If Christ is risen, how do some say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12–13). Indeed, Christ is the Head of believers: when the Head has risen, how can the other members remain dead?
A complete triumph. Hope in the immortality of the human spirit, although weak, existed before in the human race. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, confirming this hope, expanded its scope, showing that not only does the human spirit not die, but the body also will one day become immortal; that the day will come when this corruptible will put on incorruption, and this mortal will be swallowed up by life; that, according to the Apostle, the time will come when Christ will transform our lowly body to be conformed to His glorious body (Phil. 3:21).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3). The Lord, the Lord Himself has made this day; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Truly it is the feast of feasts and the triumph of triumphs: the triumph of faith, virtue, and hope.
Continued
