About the three-day resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ rose on the third day, giving life to the world. And some of the guards came to the Jews and said: “Jesus, who is called Christ, has risen from the dead.” And the foolish Jews said to the soldiers: “Why didn’t you restrain Him?” The soldiers say: “By holding Him back, what benefit did you receive other than harm to your souls? He said that I must die and rise on the third day; and this he accomplished, rising from the dead with much glory.” The ungrateful Jews say: “You received money from His disciples and gave away His body.” And the soldiers say: “Do you have such unbelief, lawless people? You did not believe His word that He must die and rise again on the third day. Woe to you, Jews, because He has now come, and you did not believe Him, for He came so that all the Scriptures that spoke about Him might be fulfilled. When He comes again the second time, what will you do, you wicked ones? And how could we hold Him when we became dead from the fear of His glory? At His resurrection, the place was shaken from its foundations, and armies of angels surrounded His divine tomb; and one angel came and removed the stone from the door of the tomb; and then Jesus came out, as if from a palace, shining like lightning. And we heard the angel say to the women: “Do not be afraid; go, tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and behold He goes before you into Galilee; You will see Him there." So here He is in Galilee. If you can, go hold Him. Here we have told you the truth which we heard from the angel.” The Jews, having heard these words, became as if dead, from fear and amazement; and looking at each other, they gave enough pieces of silver to the soldiers, and asked them with the words: “Tell that His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were sleeping. And if the boss hears about this, we will convince him and make you irresponsible.” O lawless Jews! Who will convince the whole world? Woe to you, pathetic ones, who conceived evil advice, who were called children, but became dogs! Woe to you, stiff-necked and uncircumcised, who, being the chosen people of God, became wolves and sharpened their teeth against the lamb of God, and became strangers to His glory! Woe to you, foolish ones, who loved hell and eternal fire! Hell, after the release of those who were in its treasuries, receives you in their place, with the words: “Will not one of the Jews who raised their hand against Christ and made me a captive calm down? If they had not plotted wickedness against the Lord, I would not have suffered so much. When I receive them, I will bring them down to my lowest parts, where their father, the devil, is imprisoned in eternal fire and with a vigilant worm, so that they do not take up arms against the Lord of glory, do not speak untruths against God and do not raise their horn to the heights of pride.” Woe to you, unfortunate Jews, who, having abandoned the light, loved darkness! The prophet Isaiah said about you: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who call darkness light and light darkness, who call bitter sweet and sweet bitter!” ("Woe...to those who make darkness light and light to darkness, who speak bitter sweet and sweet bitter") (Is. 5:20). Woe to you, unfortunate Jews, when you see that the tree on which you crucified the Lord is worshiped by the world, and on the day of His resurrection and His second coming the Lord walks on the clouds of heaven, surrounded by spear-bearing angels, and condemns you! Woe to you, Jews, for holding among yourselves the evil advice to kill the immortal! He lives forever, but you died in unbelief, and did not believe the word of blessed Paul: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us” (“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us”) (Gal. 3:13). But we, leaving the evil and rebellious Jews, will go to the light of the Sun of Truth, and will joyfully accept the resurrection of the Lord. So, our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and two wives met Him, that is, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who is the Mother of Jesus, and worshiped Him. What is He? "Don't be afraid"; but “go”, tell “my brothers” and Peter, “to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (“Do not be afraid, go, tell my brethren, that they may go to Galilee, and there they will see me”) (Matthew 28:10). So, these women were the first to receive joy from Him and hastened to preach to the apostles about His resurrection, and went home, having received joy from the Lord of creation. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb again; and not finding Him, she heard an angelic voice repeating what she had heard from the Lord, that He was going ahead in Galilee; and turning she sees what the Lord is saying to her. Thinking that He is the guardian of the garden, he asks if he knows where Christ is laid. Jesus says to her: “Mary, why are you crying, why are you looking for? Stop crying and embrace joy! Where there is joy, the dark tears have disappeared; where there is joy, downcast sorrow flees; where there is joy, there is no sadness; where there is joy, there are signs of joy. I am the Son of the Virgin, I am Jesus, the conqueror of hell, I am the conqueror of the world, I am the desolator of hell, I am Jesus, who preached the hope of resurrection to the dead, I am Jesus who voluntarily endured the cross for the salvation of the world, I am Jesus, who rose from the dead for three days, as I predicted, and said to you: “Rejoice.” “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (“Heaven and earth will pass by, but my words will not pass by”) (Matthew 24:35). I am Jesus, the dresser of the baptized; about Me, Paul proclaimed: “all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (“as many as you... were baptized into Christ, put on Christ”) (Gal. 3:27). I am Jesus, guide of the enlightened; I am Jesus, the bridegroom of the church; I am Jesus, giver of peace and joy. Stop crying, and put on joy; stop complaining and preach the gospel to the apostles. This is the day on which I removed a tear from every face; this is the day of victory over death and life for those in hell; this is the day on which (I), the firstborn, rose from the dead and brought joy to the world; this is the day on which to Peter and the rest of the apostles I announce through you the Gospel of My resurrection. “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him" ("And when you go, shout as My disciple and to Peter, that you have risen from the dead and are sowing in Galilee: there you will see Him") (Matthew 28:7). Do you see the mercy of the Master? He did not name any of the apostles except Peter. Why, Lord, did You name only his name? Why? "Listen, why did I call only him by name. Because the others did not say: “If we need to die with You, we will not deny You”; but he denied Me three times, (but) repenting, he wept bitterly. He must be afraid to come before My face, thinking that his sin had not been forgiven. Therefore I said to Peter, so that he should not hesitate to go with the rest of my disciples, and tell Peter that he should not be at all shy. you before the host of the apostles. Although I love John, and entrusted him, as immaculate, with My mother at the cross, I also gave you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Don’t be at all timid to come to Me: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven” (“whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven”) (Matthew 16:19). Don't be afraid, Peter; I have not removed you from presiding among your fellow disciples; what I promised you, I will fulfill. On your faith, solid as a stone, I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not take possession of it. You will be a shepherd of the sheep, you will feed my lambs, you will stand at my right hand as a commander. Do not be afraid that you have denied Me; I saw your tears and forgave your sin. It would have been good for Judas, who betrayed Me, if he had not hanged himself and repented; I am the God of the penitent. This is why I came down to earth, to give the world repentance. I have forgiven publicans and harlots so many sins, and will I not forgive you one? I love penitents. Remember that I wept for Judas and did not want his death. It would have been good for him if, when he threw the pieces of silver in the church, he had not hanged himself and repented; but, since he was left without repentance, he suffers for this forever. Don't be afraid; I saw your tears and forgave your sin. David, who committed two wickednesses, adultery and murder, I forgave and elevated to the former rank of prophecy; And will I not forgive you one sin, having forsaken everything you acquired? Peter! It was I who said: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (“there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”) (Luke 15:7); It was I who said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”) (Matthew 11:28). It would have been good for Judas if he had turned to Me, not hanged himself, and not destroyed himself; and I would nail his sin to the cross. He was guilty before himself. I didn't even curse him; rather, like the rest, he washed his feet, and gave him some of the bread and the cup; I would not have accused him of anything if somehow he had come to repentance; but he did not want to come to the consciousness of his sin. And you repented; Do not be afraid to come before Me with your fellow disciples; I have not diminished you so much that even your shadow is able to heal the sick.” And look at God’s love for mankind: through these wives He preaches the good news to the disciples, and especially the dishonored sex through the obedience of Eve leads to honor and good hopes. Have you seen what honor the wives received for their diligence? Let us, men and wives, imitate them in zeal and honor the day of resurrection according to our strength! Just as they remained all night until the time of resurrection, we will remain, not with peace and sensual aromas, but with the fragrance of good deeds and a better life, with intense prayer, with confession of sins. Just as they received as a reward for their patience the fact that before everyone else they were honored to see Him after the resurrection, to hold their feet and bow down, so it is possible for each of us, if we wish, to hold not only our feet, but also all of Him, only if we first clear our thoughts from every worldly thought, washing away the dirt of sins with tears and alms; At that special hour when we approach the terrible meal with fear and trembling, let us approach the divine mysteries, driving away all excitement and confusion from our thoughts, and at peace with everyone. When approaching, let no one have vicious thoughts within himself, nor deceit against his neighbor; (let him not approach) neither the vicious, nor the fornicator, nor the scolder, nor the brother-hater, nor the lover of money, nor the adulterer, nor the drunkard, nor the covetous, nor the homosexual, nor the envious, nor the thief, nor the malefactor, lest he receive condemnation for himself. I urge you all to show in yourself a lot of love, a lot of reverence, a lot of contrition, so that you too may bear a generous reward for yourself and be able not only to hold your feet and hands, but also your head, to enjoy those terrible and untold mysteries - only if we participate in the immaculate mysteries with a clear conscience. And not only will we live here in purity, but on that day we will be able to see Him walking in that indescribable glory and with a host of angels, if we wish to be meek and brotherly loving; and not only will we see Him, but we will also become His church, as the Lord said: “And I will build My habitation among you... and I will walk among you and will be your God” (“I will dwell in them and walk... and I will be their God”) (Lev. 26:11–12); and not only will we hear from Him: “Rejoice!”, as He said to the women, but even words worthy of the kingdom: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (“Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”) (Matthew 25:34). May we all be worthy of these words by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith”