The belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ digs deep into the foundations of Christianity. Who does not know the powerful words of the Apostle Paul: If Christ is not risen, then your faith is in vain. It is the Resurrection that makes the Gospel truly Good News – in fact the “best news” conceivable! All “other news” and revelations sound vague and lifeless in comparison!
It is this joyous Good News that imbues the entire liturgical life of the Church with joy and hope. This joy lives in our services, hymns, prayers and feasts, especially the glorious feast of Pascha. We hear again and again in the prayers of Pascha the fact that the Lord’s resurrection reveals to us the truth about the universal resurrection of humankind.
It seems, however, that many Christians are unaware of the ultimate consequences of the Resurrection of Christ, even though St. Paul mentions it in his first letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 15). He writes that Jesus, bodily risen from the dead, is called the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep,” thus anticipating and pointing toward the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.
The Church does not believe merely in the immortality of the soul and in the goodness and ultimate salvation of only spiritual reality. Following the Scriptures, Christians believe in the goodness of the human body and of all material and physical creation. Thus, in its faith in resurrection and eternal life, the Eastern Church looks not to some “other world” for salvation, but to this very world so loved by God, resurrected and glorified by Him, tilled with His own divine presence.
As you probably already know, our Church believes in Christ’s real death and His actual resurrection. His resurrection, however, does not simply mean bodily resuscitation. Neither the Gospel nor the Church teaches that Jesus was lying dead and then was biologically revived and walked around in the same way that He did before He was killed. In a word, the Gospel does not say that the angel moved the stone from the tomb in order to let Jesus out. The angel moved the stone to reveal that Jesus was not there (Mk 16; Mt 28). In His resurrection Jesus is in a new and glorious form. He appears in different places immediately. He is difficult to recognize (Lk 24.16; Jn 20.14). He eats and drinks to show that He is not a ghost (Lk 24.30, 39). He allows himself to be touched (Jn 20.27, 21.9). And yet He appears in the midst of disciples, “the doors being shut” (Jn 20.19, 26). And he “vanishes out of their sight” (Lk 24.31). Christ indeed is risen, but His resurrected humanity is full of life and divinity. It is humanity in the new form of the eternal life of the Kingdom of God.
The resurrection of Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection of all humanity. It is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, “according to the Scriptures” where it is written, “For Thou doest not give me up unto Sheol [that is, the realm of death], or let Thy Godly one see corruption” (Ps 16.10; Acts 2.25–36). In Christ all expectations and hopes are filled: O Death, where is your sting? O Sheol, where is your victory? (Hos 13.14).
The resurrection of the Lord is a preview of our own resurrection from death, when Christ comes again: “And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” (1 Cor. 6:14). Without the promise of the resurrection, Christianity would be hollow – Christianity would be reduced to a philosophy, a code of conduct, a way of life, but not a religion.
This is clear in Paul’s message: “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. [1 Cor 15:12-20]. The remainder of this chapter by Paul is an excellent reference for the importance of the resurrection to Christianity.
We have celebrated the Lord’s Resurrection today. May your faith tell you that you too will rise after death and, knowing that, may this day be a day of great joy!