PASCHA: THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE (Ps. 118-24), Part II
By the Very Reverend Joseph Antypas
On earth, the Resurrection of Christ proclaims to the earth the Father’s will for the universe. And in hell, the risen Christ stamps out hell, delivers all humanity and extends a liberating hand to Adam and Eve. Hippolytus of Rome reflects on the whole picture and refers to Pascha as the common feast: invisible feast for angels, immortal life to the entire world, total wound of death, indestructible nourishment of man, sacred feast of heaven and earth, prophet of mysteries old and new, seen by the eyes here on earth and contemplated by the spirit of the heavens.
Because of the Resurrection of Christ, all men become heirs of God and participants in the divine promises, and the history of the people of God finds in Christ a total and final fulfillment. In the realization of the design of salvation in respect to man and the world, the bodily resurrection of Christ initiates a new state of man which makes him participate in the condition of the resurrected Christ. In his sermon on Easter Sunday, St. Gregory of Nazianzus (+390) writes that, “He who today is risen from the dead, will renew me in spirit, and put on me the new man, giving to this new creation (those who are born according to God), a good worker and a good master, eager to die and be resurrected with Christ.” Such an invitation on the part of God means that, first, because of the hope of the Resurrection, virtue is pursued and evil is an object of hatred. “For without the Resurrection,” writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, “one view will be found to prevail over all others, ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die’ “ (I Cor. 15:32).
Second, the Resurrection of Christ becomes the pledge of our resurrection and regeneration. The Resurrection of Christ frees man from the alienation of sin and of death, and so regenerated man enters a new era, a new existence which enables him in faith and hope to partake in the life of the risen Christ. This “personal” participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ and its utmost and total victory over death is seen by St. John Chrysostom (+407) as a baptismal garment and the gift of new life. On this victory over death, he writes: “Two days ago the Lord died on the cross. Today he has risen from the dead. In the same way two days ago these neophytes (converts) were held in the bondage of sin. But today they rise along with Christ. He died in the flesh and rose in the flesh. They likewise were dead in sin and have risen from sin.
Finally, the Resurrection of Christ introduces a new concept of human relations. It brings about a total transformation, and transfiguration of the whole of man opens for him a new way of life: a life that is genuine, authentic, and full of love, peace, and brotherhood. On the day of the Resurrection of Christ, all faithful believers are called to embrace one another, and because of the life-giving Resurrection of Christ, they are called to forgive one another in all things, so that they can wisely exclaim. “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs, bestowing life.”
Let us pray that God will generate in us His love; may we ask our Risen Lord to grant us and our loved ones his blessings and many more good years to come.
CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!
~Orthodox Research Institute, http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/fasts_feasts/antypas_pascha.htm.
