The Ineffable Event of the Resurrection of Christ
By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani
By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani
It is a fact that we now live in the age of globalization, where on the one hand there exists the threat of hateful insecurity, and on the other a hedonistic, materialistic understanding of life. At the center stands the human being. And this postmodern human being seems to prefer the path of autonomy, self-sufficiency, and his own reason alone. The cogito ergo sum of René Descartes stands not only at the beginning of modern times, but also determines the entire course up to the present day. Neo-rationalism becomes the small or great god and the criterion — like another “infallibility” — and the “man is the measure of all things” becomes dominant in all the structures of our society.
However, the problems of man are not diminished, and the fundamental ontological category of existence remains unredeemed. The man of the 21st century continues to feel the unsatisfied void within himself and remains troubled.
And yet, before modern man comes the unprecedented and astonishing event of the Resurrection of Christ. The words are heard: “We celebrate the death of death,” and the proclamation resounds: “Christ is Risen.”
What, then, does this great and ineffable event of the Resurrection of Christ — this miracle — mean for modern man? And even more, the question arises spontaneously in our mind: Do we need the Risen One? We think: in an age of DNA discoveries, the exploration of other planets, and in a society flooded with technological achievements, in a world of terrifying weapons and rapid developments — what can the Risen from the dead, Jesus Christ, offer us? These are real questions, which continually come to the forefront.
However, the empty tomb is that which gives the message, the good news, the gospel of another life. The Resurrection of Christ is a concrete historical event. For this reason, Christ cannot be confined within an ideology, He is not learned from encyclopedic biographies, He is not expressed through films, He is not staged in theaters. He is not a sign of the internet. The Risen One is the “mystery of the ages,” because “He has truly risen,” and His appearances clearly demonstrate this “miracle of miracles.” Thus, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ ultimately becomes a difficult subject when one does not possess that other lens — the lens of faith. After all, Christ Himself is the One who allows Himself to be known, revealed, and existentially experienced consciously by those who believe.
It is therefore evident that the testimony of the Resurrection has decisive significance and value for every human being, wherever he may be. In the Person of the Risen One we encounter the victory over death, this greatest and most painful mystery for human existence, and His all-holy Person sweetens our existence and constitutes the fullness of the soul.
Only, ultimately, with the Risen One do we experience joy in our despair. We give meaning to the purpose of our earthly life. We find the path toward the summum bonum, which is identified with His word in the “Sermon on the Mount”: “You therefore shall be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).
Thus, it is a day of great feast, a day of foretaste of perfection, of another beginning, of eternity — the day of Holy Pascha, the passage from death to life, of the “new” life, as it is called in Scripture.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
