ВОСКРЕСЕНИЕ

The truth of the resurrection of Christ is in the closest connection with the truth of our future resurrection at the end of the world, so that “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen” (1 Cor. 15:13) (and who is so unfaithful as to claim that Christ was not resurrected?), and vice versa - if Christ rose from the dead, then the resurrection of the dead is certain. Why is this so: the resurrection of the Lord is an undoubted guarantee of our resurrection from the dead? Because, having risen from the dead, He became the firstfruits of the dead or the beginning of the resurrection of people from the dead; because “as death is through man, so is the resurrection of the dead through man (by the Lord). Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will live... Christ the firstborn, then those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:21–23) (2). After the resurrection, our bodies will be spiritual, not earthly: everything earthly will remain on earth. Let us, Christians, remembering this future life of ours, gradually renounce everything earthly. In the resurrection of the dead people will be like Angels in heaven (Matthew 22:30), so spiritual! Therefore, there will be no food, no drink, no clothing, no air, no warmth to nourish, warm and support our bodies, “but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Now our earthly bodies are supported by the earth, that is, by the earthly elements, but then “all the elements, having burned, will be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10). So, remembering these future revolutions in our destiny, in our bodies and in our lives and strangely seeing God incarnate, let us withdraw from the vanity of the world and place our minds on the Divine: for this reason God came down to earth, so that he may lead us to heaven 15. The spiritual body is completely different from the material, elemental one. “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28) (7). Every day we die in souls through our sins, but we can also be resurrected, and some of us are resurrected every day and every hour, and at the same hour - many times through faith and heartfelt repentance before God, the Knower of the Heart. Sin, which mortifies our souls, is extremely tenacious, crafty, active, at every moment it draws us into captivity, confuses, darkens, oppresses, scorches, relaxes, defiles and mortifies our souls, devoted to the world and not to the Lord. But although sin is sometimes sweet, and no one wants to die because of it, and every sinner desires and seeks freedom and heartfelt space and fun, there is no joy for the wicked, says the Lord, only innocent hearts are characterized by true joy; “tribulation and distress to every soul of a man who does evil” (Rom. 2:9). In order for a sinner to be delivered from sorrowful oppression or from the death of sin, he must be reconciled with God, Whom he has angered and constantly angers with sin, from Whom he himself is moving away to a land far away, to the devil. Sincere repentance is needed, and as we constantly sin, we need constant secret repentance before the eyes of God and at a certain time openly, before the priest. Through repentance, a dying soul is resurrected as many times as a sinner, having sinned, repents heartily, so that if a person dies a hundred times in a day by sin and repents sincerely a hundred times, then he will be resurrected a hundred times (8). It’s amazing how some can now mock when they hear about the resurrection, now that the resurrection of the dead has become as certain for us as the present day is certain! However, let us not be surprised: Christians do this only in name, but pagans in deeds, slaves of the belly, the riches of unrighteousness, worshipers of this world, for whom there is no higher pleasure except the pleasure of the larynx, tasting sweet meat and drinks, except the pleasure of worshiping the golden calf. But their end will be according to their deeds. And we will look at the majestic spectacle of how our Life-Giver resurrects the daughter of Jairus (9). Here's a lesson about the resurrection, solidify it well, remember that you will be resurrected. And that's all? No, and live like a Christian in order to achieve the blessed resurrection: be self-controlled and chaste, patient, kind, humble, forgiving, merciful, unanimous. Strive for each other, draw each other into the Kingdom of Heaven (9). The Lord touches our heart with His grace through the Word of God preached in church, or through the good advice of those close to us, or through a good thought sent by Him to our soul darkened by sins, or touches our sinful body with some illness sent by Him, or visits us with any losses, for example, the loss of close relatives, the loss of our property, or He threatened us with the imminent danger of suddenly losing our lives on land or at sea, or in other ways He acted graciously on our soul. So what? We - the spiritual dead - very often came to life from this, that is, we began to feel the vanity, the corruption of everything earthly and the need for the soul of true living faith in God and works of virtue, which we had previously neglected, we began to heartily repent of the past disorderly life, a contrite spirit and a humble heart appeared in us, we were touched at the thought of God's great long-suffering over us, considered ourselves the greatest sinners, mourned our errors were firmly resolved and began to lead a completely different life, pleasing to God. And here a miracle takes place, very similar to the one that happened to the dead son of the widow of Nain. The young man sat down, that is, our soul rises from sinful sleep, begins to speak words of salvation, began to speak (see Luke 7:15), and the Lord gives her, resurrected from spiritual death, to her mother, that is, the Holy Church, which is our mother, for spiritual education and guidance to the future life (9). The Resurrection of Christ from the dead, annual, solemn, all-joyful, and its weekly celebration assures everyone obviously and, so to speak, tangibly in the future life, in the life of our souls after death and in the future general resurrection of our bodies from the dust of the earth and in their wondrous transformation in the image of the risen Body of Christ. Now we see as if through a dark glass, fortune-telling, but then face to face; “Now I know in part, but then I will know, even as I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12) (10). “And when you sow, you do not sow the future body, but naked grain... but God gives it a body” (1 Cor. 15:37, 38). You wonder how a body that has crumbled in the ground will be resurrected. How does a seed, for example, poppy, wheat, or something else, rise from the ground? This seed also dies in the ground. How does it come to life, resurrect, and with such abundance? God gives him, you say, a body. Give glory to Almighty God, who from the earth created and creates all organic and inorganic bodies on earth, and therefore restores those scattered in the earth in the same way. To give you a body blooming with imperishable beauty is as common for Him as giving you a new flower in the spring from a root that has rotted in autumn and winter, for example, a poppy flower. Look at your immortality in the future life as the most ordinary thing for the Creator, which is predetermined from the creation of the world and - just as in the order of nature spring cannot help but follow winter. “The time is coming, and has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live” (John 5:25) (10). Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus, kontakion 8. You might be interested in: