Воскресение мертвых

Whoever is resurrected here will certainly, even if he dies, live, for he will rise in the general resurrection into eternal life, according to the false promise of our Lord: those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life (John 5:29). Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6). These signs and fruits of a truly converted and repentant can be seen both in Holy Scripture and in church history, they are still noticeable in those who are converted and sincerely repentant. You see that during spring, everything that was dead in winter seems to come to life again and is reborn: the earth produces fruits from its depths, the trees put on leaves, the grass turns green and is decorated with flowers; the waters, bound in ice, melt and flow, and the entire celestial creation is clothed in a new form and, as it were, created anew. From this sensual spring, may faith lead your mind to the beautiful and desired spring, which the all-good God promised in His Holy Scripture, when the bodies from the beginning of the world of the faithful departed from the earth, like seeds, having vegetated by the power of God, will arise and be clothed in a new, beautiful appearance, will be dressed in the robe of immortality, will receive the crown of kindness from the hands of the Lord, will blossom like a date, and like a cedar on Lebanon, will multiply. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God (Ps. 91:13-14), like a bride, they will be adorned with beauty, and like the earth that brings forth its flowers, and like a garden that produces what is sown in it (cf. Is. 61:10-11), they will blossom; and everlasting joy will be upon their heads, and they will rejoice in the Lord with joy. Then this corruptible will put on incorruptibility and this mortal will put on immortality, then the word that is written will be fulfilled: death is swallowed up in victory. Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory (1 Cor. 15:54–55)? So, striving in spirit towards the desired spring, now with faith and hope, with God’s help, the seeds of good labors - and then you will reap them with joy. In spring, grass grows from the ground and gives off its leaves, flowers and fruits; trees also give off leaves, flowers and fruits, although in winter no life was visible in them, and they seemed to be barren, and one tree was almost indistinguishable from another. Spring is an image of the resurrection of the dead. 1. We believe that in this way our dead bodies will rise and come out of the graves in which they were hidden, just as we see now the herbs coming out of the ground, hiding in it in winter. 2. Just as in winter we do not recognize what color and fruit there is in what grass and tree, but spring shows all this, so now we cannot recognize what is hidden inside, in the heart and soul, good or evil, piety or wickedness, and often we consider good to be evil and evil to be good; but in the resurrection everything will be revealed clearly. 3. Just as during spring the leaves and flowers of the grasses and trees come from within and come into the light, and with those leaves and flowers the grasses and trees seem to be clothed and thus present a beautiful image and appearance to those looking on, so in the resurrection the beauty of the saints will appear on their bodies, which is now hidden in their souls, and with that beauty, like a beautiful robe, their revived bodies will be clothed. They will be conformed to the glorified body of our Savior, according to the words of the Apostle: He will transform our lowly body so that it will be conformed to His glorious body (Phil. 3:21)... 4. Just as withered grass and trees in the spring are of the same appearance as they were in winter, that is, unpleasant and vile, and are not subject to anything other than burning, so the bodies of sinful people will be naked and ugly, as they are now, even much greater ugliness will appear on them, for the sin and darkness that is now hidden in their hearts and souls will then appear on them externally as evidence that they did not live in Christ life on earth, but in your own lusts. 5. And from this we consistently learn that every person has beauty or ugliness, piety or wickedness inside, and what is not inside, in the heart and soul, is not really there. Faith, love, patience, humility, etc. must be inside; and if they are not inside, in the heart, then they are nothing more than hypocrisy, which outwardly appears as if something exists, but in essence is nothing. 6. We should not condemn or judge anyone, and it is also pointless to praise, because we do not know what is hidden in someone’s heart, and we often madly call someone evil who is actually good inside, and someone good who is evil inside, and so we become unrighteous judges. The apostle turns away from this: do not judge in any way before the time, until the Lord comes, who will illuminate what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the heart, and then everyone will have praise from God (1 Cor. 4:5). 7. One must seek by faith the kindness and beautification of the soul and ask for it from Christ, Who alone can cleanse it from defilements and adorn it, and not chase after the beauty of this world: for spiritual beauty is eternal, like the soul itself, but bodily beauty is temporary. The rising of our bodies from the dead gives us consolation. Although the union of the soul with the body is resolved and the dead body is consigned to the earth and decays, it will again be revived by the power of God, by which everything came from nothing, uniting with the soul, when the dead hear the voice of the Son of God and, having heard, will come to life (John 5:25). Blind flesh is often offered to us and through it our ever-present enemy the devil: how can our body, dead and scattered into dust, rise up? But such weakness by faith, based on the holy Word of God as a true and unshakable foundation established, will be driven away, and it firmly assures us that just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life (1 Cor. 15:22 ff. entire chapter). If we believe that God created everything out of nothing, how much more will He gather and give life to the scattered dust of our bodies in Christ Jesus. For Almighty God, everything is possible and convenient, and as the true and faithful One, it is impossible to lie in His words. Everything that He declared in His word will certainly happen. With this, confirm your faith, Christian soul, and do not weaken in the feat of piety. Christians look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century, so raise your heart there too. It is necessary for the soul to be resurrected here who then wants to be resurrected into eternal life. Many Christians say every day: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,” but they are so attached to the vanity of this world and live as if there were no resurrection of the dead. The human mind, not enlightened by faith, cannot understand the resurrection of the dead. He imagines that just as bestial bodies, rotted and crumbled into dust, do not rise, so do human ones. This is where many harmful opinions arose about the resurrection of the dead, because people followed their own reason, which is blind without the enlightenment of faith. This is why the word about the resurrection of the dead seems crazy to unfaithful and carnal people. Hence the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and they ask Christ about this, but they are convicted by Him as not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God (Mark 12:18-24 et seq.). The Athenians called the Holy Apostle Paul vain because he preached the resurrection to them. “What does this fusser want to say?” And when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, they mocked (Acts 17, 18, 32). But holy faith complements the deficiency and impoverishment of the mind, and what the blind mind does not comprehend by itself, enlightens it, and so the mind enlightened by faith sees it as if it had already really happened. This is also demonstrated by similarities taken from nature, as Christ says: if a grain of wheat falls into the ground and does not die, then only one will remain; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit (John 12:24). And Saint Paul: foolish! what you sow will not come to life unless it dies (1 Cor. 15:36). But holy faith, in the word of Christ, the Son of God, Who is the eternal Truth, affirmed, takes away all doubt. The dead will be resurrected, and will be resurrected with the bodies that rest in their tombs; those bodies that have fallen will rise; those who sleep in the tombs will awaken (Dan. 12:2); those who are sown will rise (see 1 Cor. 15:37); the same bodies with which we have done either good or evil will arise, so that everyone will receive according to what he did while living in the body, good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10). For the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who did good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil will come out into the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29). Christ rose from the dead, and rose with the body with which he suffered and died, and He is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead (1 Cor. 15:20-23; Col. 1:18). The dead will also rise with the bodies with which they died. Just as their resurrection will be sad and bitter for the wicked, for having copulated with the bodies with which they committed lawlessness and were fierce in this world, they will be cast down into hell to receive according to their deeds, according to the Scripture: let sinners go to hell, all nations who forget God (Ps. 9:18), - so will the pious servants of Christ be comforted, joyful and desired as after a beautiful winter spring. Just as during spring grass comes from the depths of the earth and is dressed in fragrant various flowers, so the bodies of the pious will emerge, animated, at this time from the tombs in which, crushed by the frost of death, they hid, and will be clothed in a new beautiful form of immortality and eternal glory. For it is sown, the Apostle of Christ teaches, in corruption, and is raised in incorruption; sown in humiliation, raised in glory; what is sown in weakness is raised in strength (1 Cor. 15:42-43), for Christ will transform our lowly body so that it will be like His glorious body (Phil. 3:21), as the same apostle preaches. And the Apostle John: beloved! we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when it is revealed, we will be like Him (1 John. 3:2), so that then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43), according to the word of Christ. A wonderful spring in which such flowers will appear on earth! Blessed and blessed are those whose humble bodies are so vegetated! What joy and sweetness will be in their hearts when their bodies are so adorned! Then the word that is written will come true: death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? hell, where is your victory (1 Cor. 15:54–55; Hos. 13:14)? Reflect on this beautiful spring, beloved Christian, and strive through the grace of Christ to achieve the resurrection of the righteous.