Following the Great Lent (Fast) our Orthodox Church celebrates a very important feast. This feast is called the Resurrection Feast. “He is not here, but is risen!” Luke 24:6 On Good Friday our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. Then He was placed in a tomb and a BIG stone was placed in front of the cave so no one could take His body. To be safe they even placed a guard in front of the tomb to make sure our Lord Jesus Christ cannot get out. After 3 days, very early on Sunday morning, it was still dark, the sun didn’t even come up yet, a woman named St. Mary Magdalene and some other women went to the tomb. St. Mary Magdalene was a woman who loved our Lord Jesus Christ very, very much, she loved to learn from Him and spend a lot of time with Him. She had a lot of faith and our Lord knew that her faith was strong and how much she really loved Him.
Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross but He raised Himself from the dead, He Resurrected!! Can anyone do this? NO, only our Lord Jesus Christ can do this, because He is our Lord, our God, and He saved us and because He resurrected we will be able to be with Him in Heaven Our Lord Jesus Christ is alive!! He is here with us and sees everything we do and HE loves us more than anyone in the world, He created us and He died for us. We as witnesses to our Lord, preach His resurrection from the dead; just like we say during the Holy Liturgy: “Your death O Lord we proclaim, and Your Holy Resurrection and Ascension we confess” Furthermore, St. Paul, in his 1st epistle to the Corinthians is telling us that our faith would be empty and our preaching empty if Christ is not risen. Why was it necessary for Christ to rise? 1- In Him was life: He who has life in Him cannot remain dead. He said to Martha “I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25. Also, in the book or revelation, He says: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” Rev 1:18. For these reasons, the angel of the resurrection rebuked the women saying “Why for you see the living among the dead?” Luke 24:5 2- He Himself raised many others from death with a mere command: He is the raiser of dead; it was not difficult for Him to rise. “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” John 5:21. He who gives life to others can for sure raise Himself. 3- He fulfilled the prophecies: He told His disciples about the things that will happen to Him. After the transfiguration, He instructed them saying “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” Matt 17:9 He also said to His disciples in Galilee “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” Matt 17:22,23 4- To prove that He was not a common man: His immediate resurrection proved His divinity especially because He rose by Himself without help from anyone 5- His divine nature was never separated from His human nature: Our Lord Jesus died as a human. His spirit was separated from the body, but His divine nature was never separated from the spirit or the body. In His death, the Spirit united with the divine nature went to Hades to preach the imprisoned spirits, while His body remained in the tomb united with His divine nature. Thus, it was necessary for that body united with the divine nature to rise and not remain dead. 6- By His death, He exterminated the power of death: to proclaim His victory over death and to announce to all peoples that death would have no sting “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55. 7- His resurrection was under His own influence and authority: He died by His own will and has power over His life, as He said “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:17,18 Reasons to believe Christ rose from the Dead. 1- A Public Execution Assured His Death During the Jewish Feast of Passover, Jesus was swept away by an angry crowd into a Roman hall of justice. As He stood before Pilate, the governor of Judea, religious leaders accused Jesus of claiming to be the king of the Jews. The crowd demanded His death. Jesus was beaten, whipped, and sentenced to a public execution. On a hill outside of Jerusalem, He was crucified between two criminals. Brokenhearted friends and mocking enemies shared in His deathwatch. As the Sabbath neared, Roman soldiers were sent to finish the execution. To quicken death, they broke the legs of the two criminals. But when they came to Jesus they did not break His legs, because from experience they knew He was already dead. As a final precaution, however, they thrust a spear into His side. It would take more than resuscitation for Him to ever trouble them again. 2- A High Official Secured the Gravesite The next day, religious leaders again met with Pilate. They said Jesus had predicted He would rise in 3 days. To assure that the disciples could not conspire in a resurrection hoax, Pilate ordered the official seal of Rome to be attached to the tomb to put grave robbers on notice. To enforce the order, soldiers stood guard. Any disciple who wanted to tamper with the body would have had to get by them, which wouldn’t have been easy. The Roman guards had good reason for staying alert–the penalty for falling asleep while on watch was death. 3- In Spite Of Guards, The Grave Was Found Empty On the morning after the Sabbath, some of Jesus’ followers went to the grave to anoint His body. But when they arrived, they were surprised at what they found. The huge stone that had been rolled into place over the entrance to the tomb had been moved, and Jesus’ body was gone. As word got out, two disciples rushed to the burial site. The tomb was empty except for Jesus’ burial wrappings, which were lying neatly in place. In the meantime, some of the guards had gone into Jerusalem to tell the Jewish officials that they had fainted in the presence of a supernatural being that rolled the stone away. And when they woke up, the tomb was empty. The officials paid the guards a large sum of money to lie and say that the disciples stole the body while the soldiers slept. They assured the guards that if the report of the missing body got back to the governor they would intercede on their behalf. 4- Many People Claimed To Have Seen Him Alive About AD 55, the apostle St. Paul wrote that the resurrected Christ had been seen by Peter, the 12 apostles, more than 500 people (many of whom were still alive at the time of his writing), St. James, and himself (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). By making such a public statement, he gave critics a chance to check out his claims themselves. In addition, the New Testament begins its history of the followers of Christ by saying that Jesus “presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by [the apostles] during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). 5- His Apostles Were Dramatically Changed When one of Jesus’ inner circle disciples defected and betrayed Him, the other apostles ran for their lives. Even Peter, who earlier had insisted that he was ready to die for his teacher, lost heart and denied that he even knew Jesus. But the apostles went through a dramatic change. Within a few weeks, they were standing face to face with the ones who had crucified their leader. Their spirit was like iron. They became unstoppable in their determination to sacrifice everything for the one they called Savior and Lord. Even after they were imprisoned, threatened, and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus, the apostles said to the Jewish leaders, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). After they were beaten for disobeying the orders of the Jewish council, these once-cowardly apostles “did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). 6- Witnesses Were Willing To Die For Their Claims History is full of martyrs. Countless men and women have died for their beliefs. For that reason, it is not that significant to point out that the first disciples were willing to suffer and die for their faith. But it is significant that while many will die for what they believe to be the truth, few if any will die for what they know to be a lie. This is how we should greet each other when we celebrate the Resurrection Feast & during the 50 Joyful Days after the Resurrection:
Ekhristos anesti! Alithos anesti! Pikhristos aftonf! Khen omethmi aftonf! Christ is Risen, Truly He is Risen!! |
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