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Christ is Risen!
So, brethren, He is Risen! Risen in and of the truth! The stone was very great but couldn’t conceal the Fountain of life; the guard couldn’t hold the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5) in the bonds of death; the seal of Caiaphas melted from the fire of God’s righteousness! No more than three days was it fitting for the Son of Man to remain in the heart of the earth (Mt. 12:40), yet even this brief span was shortened to the utmost. For the time that passed from the Lord’s death to His Resurrection falls on three days, yet in itself amounts to less than forty hours. Thus was hastened the triumph of truth over falsehood and slander, of innocence over malice and injustice!
May the Jews now stand over the tomb of Jesus and judge for themselves what has occurred. There are two options: “Either give up the buried corpse or worship the Risen One” (Sunday Octoechos, Tone 2, Matins Praises). O how shamed are all the calculations of human wisdom in this case, and how evident is the inscrutability of God’s ways! Did the Jewish priests think, as they raised Jesus onto the Cross, that by this very act they were ushering Him, as the great High Priest, into the Holy of Holies, so that He might there appear before the face of God on our behalf, and that by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified (Heb. 10:14)?
Did Pilate think that by placing the inscription on Jesus’ Cross and refusing to change it at the Jews’ demand he was, as a servant and herald, thereby proclaiming the dignity of Him to Whom all power in Heaven and on earth is now given (Mt. 28:18)?
Did wretched Judas think, when accepting the thirty pieces of silver, that he was receiving not a sum set by the high priests, but a price long ago ordained by God Himself and witnessed by the prophet—the price of Him that was valued, Whom they of the children of Israel did value (Mt. 27:9 cf. Zech. 11:12–13)?
Come now, wisdom of the earth, and behold your madness! Come, holy faith, and see the fulfilment of your patience and hope! What was done on earth out of malice and greed, blindness and fury, was established in Heaven out of pure love alone and was the consequence of the greatest wisdom. On Golgotha, it seemed the entire order of the world—both moral and sensible—had been overturned, yet there it was fully restored! In the tomb of Jesus, it appeared that all holy hopes had been buried forever, yet there they were confirmed for all eternity!
So, then look up, and lift up your heads (Lk. 21:28), you who, like your Lord, suffer for truth and righteousness: The fate of all those who truly bear the Cross is seen in His fate! There is a God, the judge of the earth, the avenger of the innocent and defender of the righteous! There’s a law that no Caiaphas or Pilate can obscure or overthrow! Human malice is capable of many things: It can deprive you of your good name, plunge you into poverty, burden you with chains, cover you with sores, and raise you onto the cross; it can seal your very tomb and surround it with guards—but here lies the end of all persecution and all injustice! Though destroying your body, the malice of enemies can’t touch your spirit, can’t change a single good thought, a single holy feeling in you without your will—this is your property, inalienable and eternal!
There is one lawgiver over your immortal spirit, Who is able to save and to destroy (Jas. 4:12); Him Who made it immortal, “Him alone fear” (Lk. 12:5). For He, in case of faithlessness and impenitence, can cast not only your body but also your soul into the fiery Gehenna. And everything else on earth, however fearsome and powerful it may be, is fearsome only to those who live for the earth, not to those whose life is in God, whose hopes are in Heaven, whose treasure is in their conscience, and whose delight is in the Gospel. A few years of suffering, struggle, and purification will pass, and you, like the Savior, will be brought to where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing—where only truth abides, wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Pt. 3:13), and where all that was endured on earth is rewarded so richly that you don’t even remember your former afflictions for the joy now before you.
And is this not, brethren, what inspired all the ascetics of piety who, like the great Author of our salvation now risen from the tomb, were always persecuted by the world! For I know that He is eternal Who is about to deliver me, and to raise up upon the earth my skin that endures these sufferings (Job 19:25–26), Job once said—and upon his dunghill he blessed the name of the Lord! For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him until the day of His coming (2 Tim. 1:12), Paul once wrote—and joyfully went to prison and was put to the sword! Let us too, brethren, as often as possible turn our gaze to the face of the Risen Lord. If we’re His true followers, the world will inevitably pursue us with its malice and temptations. Who then will inspire us with courage, if not He, our Lord and Savior, Who ascended the Cross for us? His battle is our battle, and His victory is our victory: What happened to Him will happen to all of us, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together! (Rom. 8:17).
Amen.
