In triduanam resurrectionem domini

On the Three-Day Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Homily. Rejoice in the Lord always, beloved brothers; I will say it again, rejoice. The Lord is near; be anxious about nothing. The Lord has risen from the dead, and with him a great multitude of saints. Let us therefore celebrate with delight and with sobriety. For this is truly the day which the Lord made. Let us exult and be glad in it. Let us proclaim the resurrection of the Savior, or rather, let us cry out our own salvation. Let us proclaim the commemoration of the salvific day. Let us proclaim the mortification of the devil, the captivity of the unclean demons, the salvation of Christians, the resurrection of the dead. For through the resurrection of Christ, the Gehenna of fire is extinguished, and the sleepless worm dies. Hades is troubled, the devil mourns, sin is deadened, evil spirits are driven away. Those from the earth run up into the heavens; those in Hades are freed from the bonds of the devil, and taking refuge with God, they say to the devil: "Where now, Death, is your victory? Where now, Hades, is your sting?" The author for us of this holy feast and festival is Christ, who is also the procurer for us of all good things. For he both made us from the beginning and brought us from non-being into being; and now he has saved us when we were perishing; he has given life to us when we were dead; and he has taken away the tyranny of the devil. He has made us, who were slaves to sin, free, having erased the bond against us. Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf. For which things it is fitting that we also say:

What shall we give back to the Lord for all that he has given back to us? Being God, only-begotten, he deigned to become man for us, and became obedient unto death, that he might deliver us from eternal death. The Master of the angels wore the form of a slave. God the Word assumed flesh, and appeared as man, he who is of the same form and same essence as the Father. And he endured these things, that he might take us out of unjust slavery and ransom us from dishonor. For this reason, the provider of our life allowed himself to suffer in the flesh. For this reason, the fountain of immortality was buried, that he might bestow eternal life on mortals. And he was present on earth, doing good and healing the sufferings of men, but he received unworthy recompense from the God-fighting Jews. For our Lord Jesus Christ, out of great goodness, cleansed lepers, granted sight to the blind, healed the lame, drove out demons, raised Lazarus, who had been dead four days, from the dead, fed five thousand from five loaves, walked on the sea, turned water into wine, healed the woman with the issue of blood, brought back to life the dead daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, and performed many other mysteries worthy of wonder. But the Jews, moved by envy and malice, sometimes stoned the Lord, sometimes tried to throw him down a precipice, and finally led him even to the cross. But our Lord Jesus Christ did not imitate the wickedness of the blasphemous Jews; rather, he offered his back to the lashes, according to the prophet, and his cheeks to the blows, and did not turn his face away from the shame of spitting.

And finally, he was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer, voiceless, not resisting, not speaking back. When slandered, he did not retort; when suffering, he did not threaten; but he gave himself over to the one judging him, justly. For he did not come at his first coming to punish and take vengeance on the unbelievers, but he wished, through long-suffering and patience, to lead the erring to the truth. And learn of the Lord’s goodness and his great kindness. The Jews blasphemed him and said to him, “You have a demon”; but the Lord, being long-suffering, drove the demons out of people. The Jews spat in the face of the Savior, yet he healed their blind. The Jews stoned Christ, yet Christ granted their lame the ability to walk. And throughout he continued to benefit those who insulted him, and in return for evils he bestowed good things upon those ungrateful and polluted men. Bearing reproaches with forbearance, perhaps he was even thought weak—he who was attended by angels. And lest we seem to prolong the discourse by saying much, let us come to the very heads of the matter. At last, then, the king of glory was led to the cross and to death, and he who is glorified by the Cherubim and Seraphim, and worshipped by all the powers and angels, was nailed to the wood. These things he meekly endured and suffered, providing us a pattern and becoming a teacher of gentleness. Therefore we also ought to bear bravely the threats of wicked men.

But even when he was hung on the cross, he displayed greater works and more numerous miracles, so that even in this way he might stop the madness of the God-haters, so that they would have no pretext for their disbelief, nor could they say that they had crucified a mere man. First, then, Christ allowed himself to be crucified and raised into the air, in order to banish the demons in the air; he was hung on wood, to heal the sin that had long ago come to men through wood; and he was also pierced in the side with a lance, because of the woman taken from the side of Adam. For since the serpent deceived Eve, and Eve caused Adam to transgress (and a sentence was passed against both of them, and death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned), for this reason the side is wounded, so that we might learn that the passion of Christ brought salvation not only to men, but also to women. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, became a transgressor; she will be saved through childbearing. What childbearing, if not through the childbearing of Mary? For she gave birth to the Savior Christ, not having consorted with a man, as Isaiah testifies, but by the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, as the archangel Gabriel announced. For this reason, then, the side of Christ is struck, so that both the things foretold might be accomplished, and the mystery of baptism might be proclaimed, and the grace that was to come might shine forth.

For blood and water gush from the side of Christ, so that he might both blot out the bond of sin against us, and we might be cleansed by his blood, and recover paradise. O great mystery! The thief repented; water was needed for him to be baptized. He was hanging on the cross; there was no other place for baptism, no spring, no lake, no rain, no one to perform the initiation; for all the disciples had fled through fear of the Jews. But Jesus was not at a loss for waters, but even while hanging on the cross he became a creator of waters. For since it was not possible for the thief to enter the kingdom without baptism, and it was necessary that the one who repented should not lack baptism, the Savior brought forth water and blood from his pierced side, so that he might both free the thief from the evils that hung over him, and show his blood to be a ransom for those who have their hopes in him. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ash of a heifer, when sprinkled, sanctify those who are defiled for the purification of the flesh, how much more has the blood of Christ our Savior become a purification for all Christians together? If, then, some unbeliever says to you, "Why was he crucified?

Christ? Say to him: So that he might crucify the devil. If he says to you, Why was he hung on wood? Say to him: So that he might recall the sin that came through wood in paradise. If he says to you, Why did he also wear thorns? Say to him: So that he might uproot the thorns and thistles of Adam; for that one was condemned to groan and tremble, and to cultivate thorns and thistles. Jesus, then, being philanthropic, wishing to provide for his own creation, endured all things for us, so that he might free us from condemnation. For just as he was born through a woman, so that he might blot out the sin that came to men through a woman, so also he is crowned with thorns, so that he might make the land, badly cultivated by disobedience, more gentle through his own obedience. But if he says to you, Why did he drink gall and vinegar? Say to him: So that we might vomit out the death-dealing venom of the serpent; for that gall has become my sweetening, and that vinegar has become my healing. But if the unbeliever says to you again, Why did he also put on a scarlet cloak, and why did they kneel approaching him? Say to him: So that the Jews, even unwilling, might worship him, and even unwillingly acknowledge his kingdom on earth. Now, mocking, they worshipped not knowing what they did; but in the future resurrection every knee of the heavenly, earthly, and subterranean beings will bend, and every tongue will confess that Lord Jesus Christ is for the glory of God the Father. Amen. That cloak also has another enigma.

For not only did he prefigure the kingdom, but he also displayed the bloodthirsty and murderous nature of the Jews. They also placed a reed in his hand, so that their sins might be written down. These things, then, the Christ-fighters did, ignorant of the one being crucified, or rather willingly blinded; but creation did not ignore its own Master and Creator. For while the Savior was still hanging on the cross, when the perceptible sun beheld the sun of righteousness, Christ, being insulted by the lawless ones, unable to bear the audacity, fled, darkening the earth, deeming it improper to cooperate and to illuminate the eyes of those committing the greatest impiety. Not only did the sun flee, but the earth also was shaken, unable to bear the lawlessness of the deeds, indicating and teaching that it was God who was being crucified; therefore it could not endure it, but grew angry, unwilling to bear the God-hated Jews upon itself. For not even Cain, when he committed fratricide, stained the earth so, nor did the tower-building of the giants burden it so, nor did the Sodomites, committing abominations, defile it so, nor even those who fashioned idols from it; not the blood of Zacharias and Abel, when poured out, burdened it so much as the Jews, who dared this great impiety. For this reason also the hard rocks were split, so that they might learn that this is the spiritual and living rock. For they drank, it says, from a spiritual rock that followed; and the rock was Christ. Oh, the ingratitude of the Jews! The rocks were split, and they are insensible; the lifeless things are shaken, and the living beings disbelieve.

The veil of the temple is rent, so that their desolation might henceforth be shown. For the veil was torn, and the things in the temple were laid bare because of Christ who said, "Behold, your house is left desolate." For indeed, after the Christ-killing, all the sacred things of the Jews were laid waste, and the angels who remained in the city and the temple departed from there and came into the Church. And many bodies of the sleeping saints were raised together with Christ, so that we might learn that Christ, having died, does not rise alone, but raises all who believe in him from the dead. This, in summary, is the sacred feast of Pascha, and these are the mysteries of Christians, concerning the resurrection of the dead and eternal life we celebrate. Therefore, let us celebrate not with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, believing in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the consubstantial, uncreated Trinity; believing in the resurrection, awaiting the Lord coming again, no longer humbly, but gloriously with heavenly splendor, with luminous angels, with trumpet and fear and joy: joy for the saints and righteous, fear for the unjust and sinners. May the God of peace deem us all worthy of resurrection with the saints, found in good works and orthodox faith, by the grace and love for humanity of his only-begotten Son, with whom glory, honor, and worship are given to the all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.