Protocol Number 49/00
Pascha 2000
The Feast of Feasts
O Death, where is thy victory?
O Death, where is thy sting? . . .
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:54-65
To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons,
the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils
of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Day and Afternoon Schools,
the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations,
and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is risen from the dead, by death destroying death, and to those
in the tombs bestowing life!
The reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is for us as Orthodox
Christians not a matter of debate or conjecture. The Resurrection
is an absolute and undeniable certainty of our daily experience of
the presence of the Risen Christ, who ever abides with us, who ever
lives to make intercession for us, who ever reigns over us in love.
As one of us He was born, as one of us He lived, as one of us He suffered
and died. But unlike any other human being in history, He rose up
from the realm of the dead and returned from the darkness of the tomb.
For His resurrection was not merely the resuscitation of a lifeless
body; rather, by His resurrection Christ transformed our humanity
from an earthly form to a spiritual body. The flesh He assumed in
the Incarnation, although sinless, was like our own, susceptible to
death; the flesh that He raised in His Three-day Resurrection is splendid
and powerful, for He graced the perishable with imperishability and
the corruptible with incorruption (1 Cor. 15:42-50).
Certainly, Lazarus and others were raised from the dead before the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but these were merely reawakened from
the sleep of death, only to die again at a later time. Jesus Christ,
however, brought forth a new humanity, one clothed in the grace of
divine immortality. For we know, says the Apostle Paul (Rom. 6:9),
that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death
no longer has dominion over Him. But the glory, the splendor, the
honor, the virtue, and the power of the resurrection are not for Christ
alone. By His grace He gives unto us all to share in His resurrection
life, even as the Apostle John says (1 John 3:2): Beloved, we are
God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is. We too shall receive a pure, immortal, and glorious
new body through the transformation of our mortal flesh by the might
of the Holy Spirit of God. Of the glory and blessedness of our new
condition, no tongue can speak and no mind can imagine. Our present
fallen condition cannot comprehend the incomparable inheritance we
have as sons and daughters of God, anymore than an acorn can comprehend
its future as a mighty oak or a lump of coal its destiny as a brilliant
diamond.
With this hope in our hearts, we are able to look past the vanity
of this present world and all of its false promises for satisfaction
in this age. We are able to resist the lure of modern attitudes toward
the human body. For we live in an age which glorifies and pampers
the body, one which makes any and every effort to combat the aging
process, to preserve the fleeting beauty of our nature, and to deny
the painful sting of our mortality. Entire industries and new fields
of scientific inquiry spring up with the goal of disguising, delaying,
and denying the inevitable fate of our corruptible bodies. But utterly
futile are the time, the effort, and the expense of all such endeavors.
Only in Jesus Christ do we find the answer to the longing for immortality
of our bodily existence, in the restoration and renewal that shine
forth from His glorious victory over death.
In Christ alone we conquer time and the tomb. Where then is the sting
of death? Where then is the victory of the grave? Sin is forgiven.
The Law is fulfilled. The Cross is transfigured from a symbol of torture
into a sign of healing. For us who are in Christ, death is but a falling
asleep (1 Thess. 4:13f.), a passage into the presence of the Lord
(Phil. 1:23). The curse of the Fall becomes a blessing, for in Christ
we are raised up above the estate of Adam, and take on the glorious
likeness of the immortal Son of God.
This is the day of resurrection! Shine forth, O people of God! It
is Pascha, the Passover of the Lord! Just as He foretold, Jesus Christ
has risen from the grave and has given us everlasting life and great
mercy. In this indisputable certainty, in this imperishable hope,
in this irrevocable promise, in this incontestable victory, we praise
and glorify and thank the Risen Lord who has done and endured all
things for us, who has clothed our humble perishable body with the
splendor of incorruptibility.
Truly Christ is Risen!
With my warmest Paschal wishes
and love in the Risen Christ,
†DEMETRIOS
Archbishop of America
