Sunday gospel reading. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ - the history of the holiday

Resurrection of Christ

He ascended on high, captivated captivity and gave gifts to people.
And what does “ascended” mean, if not that He also descended?
first to the underworld of the earth? He is the Descendant
and came out above all the heavens to fill all
(Eph. 4:8-10).

If Christ is not risen, then our faith is in vain
(1 Cor. 15, 17).

The “great and blessed Saturday” has come: the Only Begotten Son of God, who humbled Himself to death on the cross (Phil. 2:8) and gave His spirit into the hands of the Father (Luke 23:46) “having subsisted in the flesh, rested from all His works.” Recently they saw Him humiliated, but now His rest is an honor.

But there was no peace in Jerusalem: some were deprived of it by anger, and others by heavy, oppressive grief.

The enemies did not cease to pursue the crucified Truth even in the tomb, “where human unrighteousness and the just judgment of God had brought it down”; the hands that killed the Savior sealed His tomb; fierce hatred and unbelief guarded its integrity (Matthew 27:62-66).

And at this time, the disciples of the Lord with His Most Pure Mother indulged in great sorrow. All the apostles, except for the beloved disciple (John 19:26), left their Teacher, and now they learn from others about the last days of His life - how He endured reproaches, how He suffered, how He cried out to His Father amid the terrible torment of the cross: “ My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)! These stories tore their souls with sad bewilderment: “Who was He? We saw His wondrous miracles that spoke of divine omnipotence, we heard His word filled with unknown power and inexplicable love - and now His enemies defeated Him, and even God, Whom He called His Father, abandoned Him! He died a shameful death on the cross, and we hoped that He was the One who should deliver Israel (Luke 24: 1). The Apostle Peter wept bitterly when he denied Him whom he promised to love to death (Mark 14:27-31; 66-72). But the Mother of the Lord shed incomparably more bitter tears: a sharp weapon pierced Her soul (Luke 2:35) and from her heart overflowing with sorrow inconsolable lamentations burst out: “Where, My Son and God, is the annunciation that Gabriel told Me? He called You King, Son and God most high, and now I see You, My sweet light, naked and ulcerated dead.” “Behold My light, hope, life and My God went out on the cross. From now on, joy will never touch Me - My joy and light have entered the grave; but I will not leave Him... - I will die here and be buried with Him!” Hearing the cries and lamentations of His Mother, the God-Man mysteriously spoke to Her heart from the grave: “Oh, how did the abyss of generosity hide from You?! for although I deigned to die to save My creation, yet, as the God of heaven and earth, I will rise again and exalt You.”

So some with sadness, and others with gloating, looked at the silent, sealed and surrounded by guards tomb of the Redeemer. But it was hidden from the world what was happening at that time behind the doors of the life-giving tomb. Only the Most Pure Body of the Lord rested here; with His deified soul He descended into the abyss (Rom. 10:7); into the very stronghold of the primordial murderer (John 8:44), where for centuries the souls of earthly beings, deprived of heavenly bliss for the sin of their ancestors, languished. “Christ,” says the holy Apostle Peter, “to lead us to God, once suffered for our sins, the righteous for the unjust, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, by which He came down and preached with the spirit that was in prison” (1 Pet. . 3, 18-19). “The deified soul of Christ descends into hell so that just as the Sun of righteousness may shine for those living on earth, so for those sitting under the earth in darkness and the shadow of death the light may shine, so that Christ may preach the gospel of peace to both those on earth and those in hell, liberation for the captives, recovery of sight for the blind, and for those who believed he was the author of eternal salvation, and for those who did not believe the accuser of unbelief” (St. John of Damascus).

The day of Christ has come (John 8:56) for those who from afar, separated by millennia and centuries, only saw it in the shadow of prototypes and prophecies. And so, with the preaching of the Gospel (St. Clement of Alexandria) and the remission of sins (St. Irenaeus), the Lord descends into hell. The host of forefathers and prophets met the Lord Jesus with the delight of inexplicable joy. Here, behind the gloomy gates of “dull hell” (St. Gregory the Theologian), the Savior “sees Adam shedding tears; sees Abel covered with blood like purple; sees Noah adorned with righteousness; sees Shem and Japheth, adorned with respect for their father; sees Abraham crowned with all sorts of virtues; sees Lot laboring in hospitality; sees Isaac blooming with constancy; He sees Jacob sitting with patience; sees Job like a fighter prepared for battle; sees Phinehas armed with a spear; sees Moses dedicated by God's fingers. He comes to Navin, and he is surrounded by an army; approaches Samuel, and he shines with the anointing of kings; goes to David, and he is buried with the psalter; comes to Elisha, and he is clothed with mantle. Isaiah joyfully shows the head cut off from him by the saw. Jonah is famous for saving the Ninevites. Jeremiah is anointed with mud from the pit. The eyes of Ezekiel are luminous from terrible visions. The kisses of lions are still fresh on the Daniils’ feet. The bodies of those in the oven sparkle with fire. The Maccabean squad is surrounded by instruments of torment. The head of the Baptist shines with beheading. He also sees holy women who have not yielded to their husbands in anything: he sees Sarah, shining with the Abrahamic faith; sees Rebekah thriving with beneficial drink from the waterpot; sees Rachel, radiant with chastity in marriage; sees the mother of strongholds opposing the tormentor, walled by seven sons; sees every righteous person, looks at every prophet - and preaches: “Behold Az!” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

Hell “trembled at the meeting” with the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-48), whose plagues demonstrated omnipotence, “and perished from the menacing gaze.” The “eternal faiths” of hell were crushed. The dominion of death and the devil ended (Heb. 2:14): “The Holy and True One, who has the key of David” (Apoc. 3:7), opened for believers the doors of paradise, imprisoned by the sins of their forefathers, and, accompanied by a host of the redeemed, entered “heaven itself.” ”(Heb. 9:24). “All the righteous who were consumed by death were redeemed, and after this each of the righteous said: “Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory? (1 Cor. 15:55). We were redeemed by the Victorious One.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem).

Two days have passed since the death of the Lord Jesus on Calvary... A feeling of restless malice stirred more strongly in the souls of the deicides, who firmly remembered the Savior’s prediction about the resurrection on the third day (Matthew 27:63); in the souls of Christ’s disciples, its dawn lit a ray of vague hope for the manifestation of the power of Divine omnipotence over their dead and buried Teacher (Luke 24:24). But indifferently, alien to malice and hope, the soldiers stood guard at the tomb, where the Hope of all creation was buried (Rom. 8:19).

In the silence of the deep morning, amid the general peace of nature, “Truth shone from the earth” (Ps. 84:12), the God-man rose “from the sealed tomb” (St. Isidore Pelusiot), when “seals and stone lay on him” (St. John Chrysostom). There were no witnesses to that greatest miracle, not yet seen by the world - they were not needed: the entire subsequent history of the Church of Christ is an indisputable and silent witness to the truth of the Resurrection.

The soldiers guarding the tomb were eyewitnesses of the events that had already followed the Resurrection of the Lord, which He was pleased to clothe with sacred mystery. They stood calmly under the shade of olive trees, carefully peering into the pre-dawn darkness that surrounded them. Suddenly they felt that the earth shook and, like lightning, cutting through the air, an extraordinary light shone - then an angel of God descended from heaven, approached the tomb, rolled away the stone from it, and sat on it (Matthew 28: 2-3). Thus, “the seal placed by unbelief on the cold tomb of the Lord melted from the fire of the Divinity hidden in it; the heavy stone of temptation that had covered him fell and only struck down the stiff-necked Jews and the Hellenic arrogance.” (Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow). With the light of his appearance, the angel terrified the soldiers: “they trembled with fear and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4). The earthly guard at the tomb of the risen Lord ended, giving way to the heavenly guard - the luminous messengers of the all-joyful resurrection.

Christ is risen! - and for the entire universe, true spring began, a bright, joyful morning of new life. The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the first real victory of life over death; if previously there were victories, they were incomplete, temporary, after which death again asserted its real dominion over life. Nature fought against death, calling, according to the commandment of God (Genesis 1:22), new lives to take the place of extinct ones. But for what? So that they disappear again, be replaced by others, which, in turn, will be replaced by third ones, etc. The life of nature, therefore, is nothing more than a motley, bright cover on a constantly decaying corpse, woven from many fleeting mortal lives. The heroes of human thought, the great sages of the East and West, also fought death, but they did not defeat it: their lot, like all other people, was death, after which they did not resurrect. People of great moral power, for example, the Old Testament righteous, were also powerless before death: along with the villains, death brought them to the dark Sheol or the underworld.

The final victory over death could not be won until its source in the world was destroyed - sin, which introduced division into it. Sin bound the human spirit with passions and thereby disrupted the correct relationship between it and the body: the latter, from an obedient instrument for the activity of the godlike human spirit, turned, thanks to sin, into an insurmountable obstacle on the path to moral perfection. The fight against sin without Christ is impossible for a person; it only leads him to the consciousness of his powerlessness, tearing out from his soul a mournful cry: “Poor man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:7-24)

And so, in a world conquered by sin and death inextricably linked with it (1 Cor. 15:56), “when the fullness of time had come” (Gal. 4:4), the God-man Jesus Christ appeared for its salvation, fully fulfilling the will of God in His life . His entire earthly life was a free and arbitrary feat of self-abasement, undertaken to complete the work entrusted to Him by the Father (John 17:4). The hero of our salvation “was tempted in all points like us, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Therefore, death, like its prince, had nothing for themselves in Him (John 14:30). He defeated them. They were powerless before the boundless morally free spiritual power in Christ, and the Lord Jesus rose again as a spirit, forever incarnate, uniting with the fullness of the inner spiritual being and all the positive aspects of bodily existence without its external limitations. Death had no power not only over the spirit, but also over the body of Christ - “his flesh did not see corruption” (Ps. 15:10; Acts 2:31). “By the soul of God the power of death was destroyed, the resurrection from hell was accomplished and preached to souls, and by the body of Christ corruption was brought into inactivity and incorruption was revealed from the grave” (St. Athanasius of Alexandria). As the Son of Man, obedient to His Father until death on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected “by the glory of the Father” (Rom. 6:4), by the action of His omnipotence (Acts 2:24; 4:15; Rom. 8:11; 2 Cor. 13:4), and how the Son of God, the eternal Word, Himself returned His deified soul to a glorified body (John 10:17-18).

The Resurrection, crowning the life of the Lord Jesus as the God-man, crowns His feat as the Messiah - the Savior of the world.

It reborn the apostles, turning fearful fishermen into selfless preachers of Christ, who carried the word of the gospel, according to the commandment of the Teacher, from Jerusalem “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). When the Lord was taken in the Garden of Gethsemane by messengers from the high priests and elders of the people, the disciples fled; like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 14:27), they scattered in despair and horror, and even the stone of faith - St. ap. Peter (Matthew 16:18) was shaken “by the meaningless words of the slave girl, like a leaf from the wind.” (Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.). They expected that the Messiah would apparently open His glorious kingdom of Israel on earth. But the cross destroyed these hopes, shattered their theocratic dreams. In the eyes of Christ's disciples, like all people of that time, the cross was the most terrible and shameful of all that a person could experience in his life; he was a sign of such a terrible curse that their Teacher himself grieved and grieved before him until he sweated blood. Golgotha ​​with its torment eclipsed in the souls of the apostles faith in Christ as the Messiah, leaving them with faith in Him as a prophet, “Who was mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (Luke 24:19). But Christ rose again, and the cross shone in their eyes with the light of unfading glory; the plagues revealed divine omnipotence and the tomb became the cradle of the indestructible faith that death has been defeated, that there is eternal life. They go out into the world preaching about Christ crucified and risen, enduring persecution and deprivation. How truly thorny was the path of the evangelists of Christ in the world, the Apostle of the tongues describes: “I,” he says, “was in labor, immensely in wounds, even in prisons and many times at the point of death. Five times the Jews gave me forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, and spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea. Many times I traveled, in dangers on rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from fellow tribesmen, in dangers from pagans. In labor and in exhaustion, often in watching, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor. 11: 23-27). What supported them during such trials, turning the very sorrows into joy, reproach into honor (Acts 5: 10-41)? They lived by faith “that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise them up through Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:14). And by the power of this faith they conquered the world, brought to the foot of the cross those to whom “the word of the cross” (1 Cor. 1:18) seemed temptation and madness (1 Cor. 1:23).

They realized that only in the risen Christ could they find satisfaction to the deepest needs of the human spirit. People are exhausted by sin and hunger for righteousness, but Christ was “delivered for our sins and rose again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). People languish under the joyless yoke of the law and thirst for grace-filled freedom - having killed the offspring of the law - sin - by His death (Rom. 7:9) and defeating Him by His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:25), the Lord Jesus Christ opened the path to true freedom for His followers (John 8:36) and replaced the heavy, unbearable yoke of the harsh law with the good and light burden of His teaching (Matthew 11:30). People fear death, but Christ “has risen from the dead, the firstborn of those who died” (1 Cor. 15:20). By His resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ opens the doors of much-desired immortality for man. For him now death can no longer be terrible if he believes in Christ, assimilates by faith His righteousness, His eternal life, His spirit (Rom. 8:9-11; Gal. 6:8), if he lives in Christ, then and will live with Him (John 14:19), preserving not only the soul, but also the body. Christ in His resurrection acquired glorification for His humanity, and at the same time acquired the hope of glorification for our entire humanity. There, where from eternity He abided and abides as God, He entered as the God-man with soul and body. In the resurrection of the God-man we therefore have untrue evidence that we too will be resurrected, and certainly with a body. Let's not ask how this will happen? If the Lord Jesus resurrected, elevated, and enthroned His faith, which in His very person was cast down into the grave and brought down to hell, then we cannot doubt that through Him He will justify our faith in the resurrection. Otherwise, Christians would be the most miserable people on earth (1 Cor. 15:19); A Christian is a temporary guest, a wanderer and a stranger on earth, who is inevitably accompanied by anger and hatred from the majority of those around him. Suffering is as inevitable in his life as in the life of the Savior (1 Pet. 2:21). But Christ rose again and through this founded our hope deeper than the present world and raised it above the earth: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Rom. 8:11)

More than one person is burdened with sin and longs for immortality: a vague and unclear desire for deliverance from evil and the desire for immortality is inherent in all nature; she, brought from the present path of development by the Fall of man, suffers and languishes (Rom. 8:20-22), awaiting that great day when “the last enemy will destroy death” (1 Cor. 15:26), when the risen Son of Man “and He himself will submit to Him who has put all things in subjection, so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). Then the kingdom of glory will come, access to which Christ opened with glory to the whole world.

1. Service led. Saturday morning can. paragraph 4, trop. 1, stichera on praise, 2 glory.
2. Service velik, heel, vech. canon. paragraph 7, tr. 1, paragraph 3, and now; paragraph 5, trop. 1; can. item 9, glory.^
3. Service led. Sat. morning can. paragraph 4, trop. 3.
4. Service led. Sat. morning can. paragraph 4, trop. 3.
5. Service of St. Easter morning can. item 6, irmos.
6. The Church remembers Christ’s presence in the body in the tomb, the descent of the soul into hell, and being on the throne with the Father and the Spirit on Holy Saturday. Shedding tears of love and gratitude to Him who laid down His life for His friends and enemies, His body resting in the tomb, the Church calls everyone and everything to the holiest and most precious tomb - the hope of all languages, calls heaven and earth, angels and men to it, surrounds it the holy cloud of ancient witnesses who have seen it for thousands of years, and the council of New Testament heralds, here, before the Crucified One, as if giving an account in their worldwide preaching about His redemptive cross, death and resurrection. The entire service of Holy Saturday represents a wonderful combination of the most opposite feelings - sorrow and joy, grief and joy, tears and bright jubilation. At Matins, funeral chanting is performed over the Divine Dead. It consists of the 17th kathisma (118 psalms), prophetically pre-depicting the suffering life of the Savior on earth, called “blameless” and divided into 3 articles (or stations). To each verse of the kathisma there are added gentle chants or “praises” to the deceased and buried Lord. As a harbinger of the Never-Evening Light that is about to rise from the grave, believers stand with lit candles. After the great doxology, there is a procession with the shroud around the temple, vividly and clearly transferring our thoughts and feelings to the time when Joseph and Nicodemus, having forgotten all fear of the host of the Jews, with caring love, with unshakable devotion, gave the last honor to the Crucified One, His Most Pure Body “I wrapped it in a clean shroud” and “laid it in a new tomb.” The Liturgy (of St. Basil the Great) is the conclusion of the passionate service and the immediate pre-celebration or forerunner of Easter. After the small entrance, 15 proverbs are read, which contain almost all the main prophecies and prototypes relating to the person of Jesus Christ, who crowned the great work of redemption with His glorious resurrection. After reading the apostle, while singing “Rise Up, God,” the dark clothes of the throne and clergy are changed to light ones, and the deacon, like a bright angel, the first witness and messenger of the resurrection of Christ, proclaims this all-joyful Gospel gospel. St. heard the first news of the resurrection from an angel. myrrh-bearing wife. Like them, who met the risen Lord outside Jerusalem, we also perform a procession of the cross before Easter Matins around the temple. At the beginning of the canon and each of its songs, a priest with a cross and candles performs incense for the entire church, in commemoration of the repeated appearances of the Lord after the resurrection. The joyful Easter greeting reminds us of the state of the apostles (Luke 24:14-34), in which, when the news of the resurrection of Christ suddenly broke, they asked one another with joyful delight: “Christ is risen!” and they answered one another: “Truly he is risen.” Mutual kissing is an expression of love and reconciliation with each other, in memory of our universal forgiveness and reconciliation with God, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The red egg serves as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ and our rebirth into the future life. Just as from an egg, from under a dead shell, life is born, which was completely hidden, so Christ, who lay in the tomb like a dead man, rose from this abode of death and corruption. Just as a living being is born from an egg and begins to live a full life when it is freed from the shell containing its embryo, so at the second coming of Christ to earth, we, having thrown away everything corruptible here, where the name is already the embryo and the beginning of eternal existence, by the power of resurrection Christ, let us be reborn and rise to another life. An egg painted with red paint reminds us that our new life was acquired by the pure blood of Jesus Christ. The custom of mutual exchange of eggs owes its origin to St. Mary Magdalene, who, presenting herself to Emperor Tiberius, presented him with a red egg with the greeting “Christ is Risen.” The Easter service and church rituals are especially solemn, imbued with a single feeling of joy and show the believer everything that is mysterious, lofty and saving for the soul in Christianity, bright, joyful and comforting for the heart.

Everyone knows the story associated with the Resurrection of Jesus, but few know the details of this event, although the holiday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the main one for Christians.

It is in honor of the Resurrection of Christ that all Christians celebrate Easter for forty days.

What sources describe the events associated with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

The main sources that describe the events associated with the Resurrection of Jesus:

— Gospel of Matthew. Chapters 27, 28

— Gospel of Mark. Chapters 15, 16

- Gospel of Luke. Chapter 24

The word Gospel is translated from Greek as “good news” about the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Gospel according to Mark

The story of Jesus' resurrection began with his trial and crucifixion on the Friday before Passover.

Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

Jesus, crucified on the cross, died about three hours after lunch.

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Christ and Salome and other disciples of Christ were present during the execution.

In order not to overshadow the Jewish holiday of Passover (Easter), the Jewish high priests and Pontius Pilate instructed one of their high priests, a rich man from the city of Arimathea, named Joseph, to take the body of Jesus and bury him. According to the Bible, Joseph and his assistant removed Jesus' body from the cross and buried it in Joseph's crypt.

But most likely, given Joseph’s rank, and he was one of the leaders of the Sanidrin, all these actions were carried out not by him personally, but by a funeral team from the local guard, but under his leadership.

It is interesting that none of the disciples of Jesus, neither Mary Magdalene nor the mother of Jesus took part in the funeral of the Lord.

Jesus Christ was buried in a similar grave

Having removed the body of Jesus from the cross, Joseph wrapped a shroud around Christ and buried Jesus in a cave that evening, then rolled a stone to the entrance to the cave and returned to Jerusalem.

Mary Magdalene and his mother Mary watched from afar where Jesus was buried.

The cave where Jesus was buried was in Joseph's garden, next to Golgotha, where Christ was crucified.

The next morning, remembering Jesus' prediction that he would rise on the third day, the high priests went to Pilate and asked him to place a guard at the cave so that Christ's followers could not secretly steal Jesus' body.

To guard the cave, Pontius Pilate assigned guards and ordered it (the cave) to be sealed.

Myrrh-Bearing Women

On the third day after the funeral of Jesus, early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and the mother of Christ Mary of James, having bought aromatic oils, went to the cave to anoint the body of the deceased.

Approaching the cave, the women were worried about who would move the heavy stone that was covering the entrance to the cave.

But when they approached the cave, they were surprised to find that there were no guards who were supposed to guard the cave, and the stone covering the entrance had been rolled away.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Angel of the Lord

When the women entered the cave, they saw that the body of Christ was not there, and on the right side of the bed was sitting a young man dressed in white clothes.

The women were frightened and froze, but the young man immediately turned to them:

“You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, crucified; He has risen, He is not here. This is the place where He was laid. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee; There you will see Him, just as He told you."

The frightened women ran out of the cave and returned to Jerusalem, but, overcome with horror, they did not tell anyone anything, neither about the disappearance of the body, nor about the young man in white robes.

However, just as Jesus predicted, he rose again early on Sunday morning.

The first person to whom he appeared was Mary Magdalene.

Appearing before Mary Magdalene, he cast out seven demons from her.

After which Mary Magdalene went to the disciples of Jesus and told them that Jesus had risen and that she had seen Him alive, but the disciples did not believe Mary’s story.

Then Jesus appeared in another form to two of the disciples on the road.

They told about the meeting with the Teacher, but the rest of the students again did not believe them either.

Then in the evening Jesus appeared to the remaining eleven of his disciples and reproached them for not believing in his resurrection and said to them:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; and whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will take snakes; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

After the conversation with the disciples, Jesus went to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, and the disciples went to preach.

This concludes the story of the resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew tells about the events associated with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with slightly different details than the Gospel according to Mark.

In the Gospel of Matthew there are earthquakes, a solar eclipse, and the resurrection of the dead:

“Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones dissipated; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”

But near the cave, events are already happening somewhat differently.

When Mary, the mother of James and Josiah (mother of Christ), and the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached the cave, a great earthquake occurred due to the fact that the Angel of the Lord who descended from heaven came, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it:

“His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.”

Horror gripped everyone: the guards guarding the cave and the women.

The angel turned to the women and said:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified; He is not here - He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly, tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there"

The women, making sure that Jesus’ deathbed was empty, went back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles about the resurrection of the Teacher.

Eleven disciples went to Galilee to meet the Teacher there, on the mountain.

Not all the disciples believed that their teacher Jesus was before them.

As Jesus approached, he addressed his disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth is mine. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This concludes the story of the resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Gospel of Luke

In the Gospel of Luke in the 24th chapter, the women also on Sunday morning came to the cave to the tomb of Christ with prepared spices and also found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the cave.

But when they entered the cave, not a young man appeared before them, but two men in shining clothes.

They, just like the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, told them that Jesus had risen and was waiting for them in Galilee,

But even here the women did not believe the messengers.

However, in the Gospel of Luke, the Apostle Peter is present in the cave, who approaches the Holy Sepulcher and sees only the linens lying there.

The following describes the events when two disciples meet Jesus on the road and do not recognize him for a long time, and only after he reclined with them and broke bread with them did they realize that they had spent the whole day in the company of Jesus:

“And as He reclined with them, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. But He became invisible to them"

Further, upon returning to Jerusalem, they found together the eleven Apostles who said that the Lord had truly risen and appeared to Simon. And they told about what had happened on the way, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of bread.

And at that moment Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them:

"Peace to you"

The apostles were confused and afraid, thinking that they saw a spirit.

But Jesus convinced them that he was their blood, and then he ate baked fish and honeycomb with them.

The disciples bowed to Jesus and returned to Jerusalem in a festive mood.

This concludes the story of the Resurrection of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke.

Are there any records of references to the Ascension of the Lord in the works of eyewitnesses of Christ?

No, in the works of eyewitnesses of Christ there is not a single record where there would be any mention of the Ascension of the Lord. All references to the Ascension of the Lord were not written by eyewitnesses and in a later period.

On the third day after His death, on Sunday, early in the morning, when it was still dark and the soldiers were at their post at the sealed tomb, the Lord rose from the dead. The mystery of the resurrection, like the mystery of the incarnation, is incomprehensible. With our weak human mind, we understand this event in such a way that at the moment of resurrection the soul of the God-man returned to His body, which is why the body came to life and was transformed, becoming incorruptible and spiritualized. After this, the resurrected Christ left the cave without rolling away the stone or breaking the high priestly seal. The soldiers did not see what happened in the cave, and after the resurrection of Christ they continued to guard the empty tomb. Soon an earthquake occurred when the Angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The warriors, frightened by the Angel, fled.

Neither the myrrh-bearing wives nor the disciples of Christ knew anything about what had happened. Since the burial of Christ was carried out hastily, the myrrh-bearing wives agreed on the day after Easter, that is, in our opinion, on Sunday, to go to the tomb and finish anointing the Savior’s body with fragrant ointments. They did not even know about the Roman guard assigned to the coffin and the seal attached. When dawn began to appear, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Jacob, Salome and some other pious women went to the tomb with fragrant myrrh. Heading to the burial place, they were perplexed: “Who will roll away the stone from our tomb?”- because, as the Evangelist explains, the stone was great (). Mary Magdalene was the first to come to the tomb. Seeing the coffin empty, she ran back to the disciples Peter and John and informed them about the disappearance of the Teacher’s body. A little later, the other myrrh-bearers came to the tomb. They saw a young man in the tomb, sitting on the right side, dressed in white clothes. The mysterious young man said to them: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He has risen. Go and tell His disciples that they will see Him in Galilee” (). Excited by the unexpected news, they hurried to the students.

Meanwhile, the apostles Peter and John, having heard from Mary about what had happened, ran to the cave: but, finding in it only the shrouds and the cloth that was on the head of Jesus, they returned home in bewilderment. After them, Mary Magdalene returned to the burial place of Christ and began to cry. At that time, she saw two angels in white robes in the tomb, sitting - one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. The angels asked her: "Why are you crying?"(). Having answered them, Mary turned back and saw Jesus Christ, but did not recognize Him. Thinking it was the gardener, she asked: “Mr! if you carried Him,(Jesus Christ), then tell me where put Him and I will take Him". Then the Lord said to her: “Mary”! (). Hearing the voice and turning to Him, she recognized Christ and exclaimed: “Teacher!” threw herself at His feet. But the Lord did not allow her to touch Him, but ordered her to go to the disciples and tell about the miracle of the resurrection.

That same morning, the soldiers came to the high priests and informed them about the appearance of the Angel and the empty tomb. This news greatly excited the Jewish leaders: their anxious premonitions were fulfilled. Now, first of all, they had to make sure that the people did not believe in the resurrection of Christ. Having gathered a council, they gave the soldiers a lot of money, ordering them to spread a rumor that the disciples of Jesus stole His body at night, while the soldiers were sleeping. The soldiers did just that, and so the rumor about the theft of the Savior’s body then lingered among the people for a long time.

A week after this, the Lord again appeared to the apostles, including St. Thomas, who was absent at the first appearance of the Savior. To dispel Thomas’s doubts regarding His resurrection, the Lord allowed him to touch His wounds, and the believing Thomas fell at His feet, exclaiming: “My Lord and mine!”(). As the evangelists further narrate, during the forty-day period after His resurrection, the Lord appeared to the apostles several more times, talked with them and gave them final instructions. Shortly before His ascension, the Lord appeared to more than five hundred believers.

On the fortieth day after His resurrection, the Lord, in the presence of the apostles, ascended to heaven and since then He has been at the “right hand” of His Father. The apostles, encouraged by the resurrection of the Savior and His glorious ascension, returned to Jerusalem, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit on them, as the Lord promised them.

The Relationship Between the Old Testament and New Testament Passover

As we know, the Old Testament time was a period of preparation of the Jewish people for the coming of the Messiah. For this reason, some events in the life of the Jewish people, and especially the predictions of the prophets, related to the coming of Jesus Christ and the onset of New Testament times. The Old Testament law, according to St. ap. Paul, was "a teacher to Christ" And "shadow of future blessings" (; ).

The most significant event in the history of the Jewish people was their liberation from Egyptian slavery under the prophet Moses, one and a half thousand years BC. It was imprinted in the national Jewish holiday of Passover, which celebrated other events associated with the liberation from Egypt: the defeat by the Angel of the Egyptian firstborns and the pardon of the Jewish ones, on whose houses signs were made with the blood of the Passover lamb (Hence the word “Passover” - “to pass by”) ; the miracle of crossing the Red Sea and the death of the Egyptian army chasing the Jews; then - the Jewish people received the Law on Mount Sinai and established a covenant with God, after which the Jewish people began to be considered the people of God. Since then, Jews, celebrating Passover and following the customs of their ancestors, eat the Passover lamb with prayer and symbolic rituals.

In the significant coincidence of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ with the feast of the Old Testament Easter, one should see God’s indication of the deep internal connection between these two events, which St. ap. Paul in his letter to the Hebrews. Let us compare here the events of both Easters in parallel.

From this comparison of Easter events, we see how the events of the Old Testament Easter served as a prototype of the New Testament and heralded the great spiritual changes that were to occur in the life of mankind after the resurrection of the Messiah. That is why the apostles, celebrating the New Testament Easter, asserted: “Our Easter, Christ sacrificed for us” ().

Prophecies about the Resurrection of Christ

Many Old Testament prophecies testify to the resurrection of the Messiah. Among them we must mention those who predicted that the Messiah would be not only a man, but also God, and therefore will be immortal by His divine nature. See, for example: Psalms 2, 44 and 109, , , , . The resurrection of the Messiah is also indirectly evidenced by prophecies speaking about His eternal kingdom, for example: , , , , Ezek., , ​​- because the eternal spiritual Kingdom presupposes an immortal King.

Among the direct predictions about the resurrection of Christ, the clearest is the prophecy Isaiah, occupying the entire 53rd chapter of his book. The Prophet Isaiah, who lived more than 700 years BC, having described the suffering of Christ in such detail as if he was standing at the very foot of the cross, ends his story with the following words:

“He was assigned a grave with the evildoers, but He was buried with a rich man, because He committed no sin, and no lie was found in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased to strike Him, and He gave Him over to torture; when His soul offers a sacrifice of propitiation, He will see long-lasting offspring, and the will of the Lord successfully will be fulfilled by His hand. He will look at the feat of His soul with contentment; through the knowledge of Him, He, the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. That's why I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoil with the mighty.” ().

The final words of this prophecy directly say that the Messiah, after His saving suffering and death, will come to life and will be glorified by God the Father. The king also predicted the resurrection of Christ David in the 15th Psalm, in which David says on behalf of Christ: “I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at the right hand(on the right hand) me; I will not hesitate. Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; even my flesh will rest in hope(to hope) for You will not leave my soul in hell and You will not allow Your saint to see corruption, You will show me the path of life: fullness of joy is before Your face, bliss is at Your right hand forever.”(, see also ; ).

Thus, the prophets laid the foundation of faith in their people in the coming and resurrection of the Messiah. This is why the apostles were so successful in spreading faith in the risen Christ among the Jewish people, despite obstacles from the religious leaders of the Jewish people.

Spiritual Fruits

Resurrection of Christ

The spiritual resurrection in this life will serve as the foundation for the physical resurrection which, by the power of almighty God, will take place on the last day of this world. Then the souls of all the dead will return to their bodies, and all people will come to life, regardless of where and how they died. But the appearance of the resurrected will reflect their inner state: some will look bright and joyful, others will look scary, like the walking dead. The Lord predicted the general resurrection in these words: the time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear a voice(voice) of the Son of God; and they will go those who did good into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil into the resurrection of condemnation.” ().

At the same time, the upcoming general resurrection of the dead must be distinguished from the temporary resurrections of the dead, which the Lord and his disciples performed, according to the Gospel and the book of the Acts of the Apostles. For example: the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus, who lay in the tomb for four days, and others. This was a temporary awakening from death, so that after a certain time those resurrected died again, like all people. But the general resurrection from the dead will be an eternal resurrection, in which the souls of people will forever be united with their incorruptible bodies. During the general resurrection, righteous people will rise transformed, spiritualized and immortal. The first to rise with such a renewed and spiritualized body was the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Apostle calls "The firstborn of the dead"(). "Then (at the general resurrection) the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” ().

The holiday of Christian Easter is celebrated so joyfully by Orthodox Christians because on Easter days, more than at other times of the year, they feel the regenerating power of the Resurrection of Christ - that power that overthrew the power of darkness, freed souls from hell, opened the doors to heaven, and defeated the bonds death, poured life and light into the souls of believers. It is also remarkable that Easter joy spreads to such a large number of people - not only to deeply believers, but also to those who are lukewarm and far from God. On Easter, the whole world and even, it seems, soulless nature rejoice at the victory of life over.

Easter service

There is no service brighter and more joyful than Orthodox Easter. The Easter service begins with a procession of the cross around the church, with lighted candles in the hands of all those gathered and with the singing: “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the Angels are singing in heaven: grant us also on earth (worthy) to glorify Thee with a pure heart.” This procession resembles the procession of the myrrh-bearers in the early morning to the tomb of the Savior to anoint His most pure Body. Having gone around the temple, the procession stops in front of the closed main doors, and the priest begins Matins with the exclamation: “Glory to the Holy Ones, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity...” Then, like the angel who announced the myrrh-bearing women about the resurrection of Christ, he sings three times, together with other clergy, Troparion of Easter: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death and giving life to those in the tombs.” The priests' singing is picked up by the choir. Then the senior priest recites the prophetic verses of the psalm: “May God rise again and let His enemies be scattered.” The final words of each verse are picked up joyfully by the singers: “Christ is risen.” Then the clergy repeat the beginning of the troparion: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death,” and the singers end it: “And to those in the tombs he gave life.” At this time, the doors of the temple open, everyone enters the temple, and the great litany begins (short petitions with the singing of “Lord, have mercy,” followed by the solemn singing of the Easter canon: “Resurrection Day,” compiled by the monk. During the singing of the canon, the clergy repeatedly perform a full incense of the temple and greet the pilgrims with the words: “Christ is risen!” To which they loudly answer: “Truly he is risen!”

The Ordinary Hours are not read, they are replaced by the singing of Easter hymns. The Liturgy takes place immediately after Matins. Instead of ordinary psalms, special antiphons are sung: short prayers with verses; Instead of “Holy God,” it is sung “Be baptized into Christ.” The Gospel reads about the eternal birth of the Son of God from God the Father and about the Divinity of Jesus Christ, God the Word (), which He proved by His glorious resurrection. When several priests serve, the Gospel is read in different languages ​​as a sign that the apostles preached about the resurrection of Christ to different peoples in their native languages. Instead of “It is worthy to eat,” the following worthy is sung (in Russian translation):

“The angel exclaimed to the blessed one: pure Virgin, rejoice! and again I say: rejoice! Your Son rose from the grave on the third day after death and raised the dead: people rejoice!”

“Glorify yourself, be glorified, New Jerusalem (Church), for the glory of the Lord has shone upon you: rejoice now and rejoice Zion! But You, Pure One, rejoice in the resurrection of the One born of You.”

Following the prayer behind the pulpit, artos is consecrated - special bread with the image of the Resurrection of Christ on it. At one of the subsequent services, the artos is crushed and distributed to believers in memory of the appearance of the risen Christ to the apostles Luke and Cleopas (who recognized Him after He broke bread). On the very first day of St. Easter is blessed by eggs, cheese and butter, as well as Easter cakes, with which believers break their fast. On St. Easter believers greet each other with a fraternal kiss with the words: “Christ is risen” (they salute Christ) and exchange colored eggs, which serve as a symbol of the resurrection. On all days of Easter week, the royal doors remain open as a sign that by the resurrection of Christ all people have access to Heaven. Starting from the first day of St. Before Easter Vespers, the feast of the Holy Trinity (for 50 days), you should not bow to the ground.

Easter Canon in Russian translation

Song 1

Irmos: Sunday day. Let's enlighten ourselves, people! Easter! Lord's Easter! For from death to life and from earth to heaven Christ has brought us, singing the song of victory.

Let us clear our senses and see Christ shining with the impregnable light of the resurrection, and we will clearly hear “rejoice” from Him, singing the song of victory.

Let the heavens rejoice with dignity, let the earth rejoice. Let the whole world, visible and invisible, celebrate; for Christ has risen - eternal joy.

Song 3

Irmos: Come, let us drink a new drink, not miraculously produced from a barren stone, but from the source of incorruptibility - the tomb of Christ, on which we are established ().

Now everything was filled with light - the sky, the earth and the underworld; let all creation celebrate the rise of Christ, on whom we are established.

Yesterday I was buried with You, Christ, today I rise with You risen; Yesterday I crucified with You, glorify me with You, Savior, in Your Kingdom ().

Song 4

Irmos: Let Habakkuk, who proclaimed God, stand with us on the Divine guard and show us a luminous Angel, clearly exclaiming: now is salvation for the world, because Christ has risen as omnipotent (; ).

Our Easter - Christ appeared male, like a (son) who opened the virgin womb; called the Lamb, as offered for food, - immaculate, as not involved in filth, and as the true God - called perfect ().

The crown we bless is Christ, like a one-year-old lamb, who voluntarily sacrificed himself for everyone on the cleansing Passover, and again He, the beautiful Sun of Truth, shone for us from the grave.

Godfather David jumped in delight in front of the prophetic ark; Let us, the holy people of God, seeing the fulfillment of the types, rejoice sacredly; for Christ has risen as omnipotent ().

Song 5

Irmos: Let us rise in the deep morning, and instead of peace we will bring a song to the Master, and we will see Christ - the Sun of Truth, enlightening everyone with life.

Seeing Your immeasurable mercy, O Christ, those held in the shackles of hell, joyfully hastened towards the light, glorifying the eternal Easter.

With lamps in our hands, let us go to meet Christ coming from the tomb as a bridegroom, and with the joyfully celebrating ranks (of Angels) we will celebrate God’s saving Easter.

Song 6

Irmos: You descended, Christ, into the underworld of the earth and crushed the eternal rivets containing the prisoners and on the third day, like Jonah from the whale, you came out of the tomb ().

Without damaging the enclosed (womb) of the Virgin in Your birth, Christ, You rose from the grave, keeping the seals intact, and opened the doors of heaven to us.

My Savior, living and, like God, unslain Sacrifice! Having voluntarily brought Yourself to the Father, You, rising from the grave, resurrected the ancestor Adam.

Song 7

Irmos: He who saved the youths from the oven, having become a man, suffers like a mortal, and with His suffering clothes mortals in the beauty of immortality, one of the fathers, blessed and glorified.

God-wise women hurried after You with fragrant ointments; but Whom they sought with tears as if dead, They worshiped Him with joy, as the living God, and announced the mystical Easter to Your disciples, O Christ.

We celebrate the killing of death, the destruction of hell, the beginning of another, eternal life, and in delight we glorify the Author of this, the one God of the fathers, blessed and glorified ().

In truth, this saving and luminous night is sacred and worthy of every celebration, the forerunner of the luminous day of resurrection, on which the eternal Light in the flesh shone for all from the grave.

Song 8

Irmos: This famous and sacred day, the only one, king and lord among Saturdays, is a holiday of holidays and a triumph of celebrations; On this day let us bless Christ forever.

Come, on the glorious day of resurrection, let us partake of the new fruit of the vine, the divine joy, the Kingdom of Christ, praising Him as God forever.

Raise your gaze, O Zion, and look around you: behold, your children have flocked to you - like God-bright lights from the west, north, sea and east - blessing Christ in you forever ().

Father Almighty, and the Word, and the Spirit, is one Being in three Persons, Most High and Divine! We were baptized into You and we will bless You forever.

Song 9

Irmos: Be enlightened, be enlightened, new Jerusalem; for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you; rejoice now and rejoice Zion. You, Pure One (Mother of God), rejoice over the uprising of the One born to you! ().

Oh, how divine, gracious and joyful is Your word, O Christ! You promised to be with us until the end of the century. Having this as a support for hope, we the faithful rejoice ().

O Easter, great and sacred, Christ! O wisdom, Word of God and power! Make us worthy to commune with You more perfectly on the endless day of Your Kingdom ().

Notes

1 . The miracle of the resurrection of Christ from the dead is evidenced by the Holy Fire, which descends (lights up) every year on Easter night in the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection of Christ, built on the site of the burial and resurrection of the Savior. The occurrence of this fire is inexplicable. When it appears, the Holy Fire does not burn and its flame can be passed over the face. Only after some time does the fire acquire its normal temperature. The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (or his deputy), having received the Holy Fire, lights candles with it, which he immediately distributes to the numerous pilgrims gathered in the temple. The miraculous fire makes a great impression on everyone present in the temple and causes joy. It is also remarkable that the Holy Fire descends only for Orthodox Christians and always on Orthodox Easter. Representatives of other religions, who also serve in this temple, do not receive the Holy Fire.

2. Jewish Passover is celebrated on the 14th day of the lunar month of Nissan. This day always falls in the spring, on the full moon. Christian Easter is closely related to Jewish Passover. The First Ecumenical Council, meeting in Nicaea in the year 325, decided to celebrate Christian Easter on Sunday during the vernal equinox, and always after the Jewish Passover. Guided by this resolution of the Council and astronomical calculations, Alexandrian scientists developed a system for calculating the day of Orthodox Easter for each year. This is how “Easter” arose - a table of Easter days for many years to come. The sequence of Easter days is repeated every 532 years (indiction). According to Paschal, the earliest Orthodox Easter falls on March 22 according to the old style (April 4 according to the new style), and the latest is on April 25 according to the old style. style (May 8, new style). With the movement of Easter, the holidays of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (a week before Easter), the Ascension of the Lord (on the 40th day after Easter) and the Trinity (on the 50th day after Easter), which depend on it, also move. According to Easter, in 1992 Easter will be on April 26th; in 1993 - April 18; in 1994 - May 1st; in 1995 - April 23; in 1996 - April 14 (numbers are given according to the new style).

3. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was witnessed by Angels: , , ; Apostles: , ; His enemies: ; and, most of all, by that sea of ​​miracles that have been and continue to be performed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Savior's secret disciples - Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus - buried His body in a new tomb carved into the rock, not far from Golgotha.

When the body of Jesus Christ rested in the burial cave, with His soul He, like all those who died before Him, descended into hell. God came to where for many centuries the souls of the dead righteous were awaiting the coming of the Savior. Christ came and, preaching the Resurrection, led them out of hell - as it is sung in church hymns: “hell is empty.”

The peace of Holy Saturday became the beginning of the transition from death to life.

After Saturday, at night, on the third day after His suffering and death, the Lord Jesus Christ came to life by the power of His Divinity.

He rose from the dead. His human body was transformed. The Savior left the tomb without rolling away the stone that covered the burial cave. He did not break the seal of the Sanhedrin and was invisible to the guards who from that moment guarded the empty tomb.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake. An Angel of the Lord descended from heaven. He rolled away the stone from the empty coffin and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The warriors standing guard at the coffin were in awe and became as if they were dead, and then, waking up, they fled in fear.

Meanwhile, the women who were at Golgotha ​​and at the burial of Christ hurried to the tomb of the Savior. It was very early. Dawn has not yet arrived. Taking with them the precious myrrh, the women went to fulfill the last duty of love towards their Teacher and Lord: to anoint His body with the oil.

These were Mary Magdalene, Mary of James, Joanna, Salome and some other women. The Orthodox Church calls them myrrh-bearing women.

Not knowing that a guard was assigned to the Savior’s tomb, they asked each other: “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” The stone was very large, and they were weak. Ahead of the other women, Mary Magdalene was the first to come to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been rolled away from the door, and the coffin was empty.

With this news she ran to the disciples of Christ Peter and John. Hearing her words, the apostles hurried to the tomb. Mary Magdalene followed them.

At this time, the rest of the women approached the coffin. Seeing that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance, they entered the cave and there they saw a luminous Angel and were afraid. But the Angel said to them: “Do not be dismayed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, crucified; He has risen, He is not here. This is the place where He was laid. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you."

Coming out, the women ran from the coffin: they were overcome with trepidation and horror. They didn't tell anyone anything.

Soon after this, Peter and John ran to the Holy Sepulcher. John was young, so he ran faster than Peter and was the first to reach the tomb. Bending down, he saw the burial shrouds of the Lord, but, being afraid, did not enter the cave. Peter entered the tomb. He also saw the swaddling clothes and the sir lying separately - the bandage that was on the head of Jesus Christ. I saw and believed in the Resurrection of the Lord. Meanwhile, the soldiers guarding the tomb came to the Jewish leaders and announced to them everything that had happened in Joseph’s garden. Not wanting to believe in the Resurrection of Christ, the Pharisees and high priests bribed the soldiers, saying: “say that His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were sleeping.” The soldiers, having taken the money, acted as they were taught. And Christ’s disciples dispersed throughout the world preaching about the Risen Savior. This central message, proclaimed by the Christian faith, is at the very center of the preaching, worship and spiritual life of the Church. Christ is Risen!

This week, many were surprised by the news that a quarter of Britons who call themselves Christians do not believe in the resurrection of Christ (BBC data). For those of you planning to celebrate Easter this Sunday, these numbers may come as a shock...

For anyone reading this blog, I offer nine important things to know about the Resurrection.

1. Belief in the Resurrection is a core doctrine of the Christian faith.. If you do not believe in the Resurrection, you do not have a personal relationship with God in and through Jesus Christ.

“For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).

“And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is in vain: you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17).

2. The Resurrection gives hope for eternal life to everyone who has died in Christ. The Bible teaches that since Jesus is now alive as a result of the resurrection, all who have a personal relationship with Him have the hope of eternal life with Him after death.

“But Christ has risen from the dead, the firstborn of those who have fallen asleep. For as death came through man, so also came the resurrection of the dead through man” (1 Cor. 20-22).

Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be” (John 14:2-3).

3. The disciples of Christ, who later became His apostles, at first did not understand the meaning of the resurrection. Jesus spoke to His disciples (His followers during His earthly ministry) about the resurrection, but they did not understand this truth until He was resurrected.

“When they came down from the mountain, He commanded that they should not tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. And they kept this word, asking each other what it meant to be raised from the dead” (Mark 9:9-10).

“Then some of His disciples said to one another, “What is it that He says to us: Soon you will not see Me, and again soon you will see Me, and: I am going to the Father?” (John 16:17).

4. Jewish Religious Leaders Feared the Possibility of the Resurrection. These religious leaders did not accept the teachings of Jesus because it threatened their power and undermined their religious system. They feared the risen Messiah and Savior.

“They went and set a guard at the tomb, and put a seal on the stone” (Matt. 27:62-66).

5. The resurrection of Christ became a source of great joy for the disciples and the foundation of their faith. When Jesus spoke to His disciples about His resurrection, He predicted that their grief over His death would then be replaced by a joy that no one could take away from them. The Apostle John recalled these words in his Gospel in order to call the reader to faith in Jesus.

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will mourn and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, but your sorrow will turn into joy... So now you also have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:20-22).

6. The Resurrection of Christ was witnessed by eyewitnesses. Paul lists many who saw the risen Jesus.

“I remind you, brethren, of the gospel which I preached to you, which you received, in which you stood, and by which you are saved, if you keep what was taught, as I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I originally taught you what I myself accepted, that is, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve; then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, and some have died; then he appeared to Jacob, and also to all the Apostles; and last of all he appeared to me, as to a certain monster” (1 Cor. 15:1-8).

7. The Resurrection Demonstrated that Jesus is the Son of God. Paul saw the Resurrection as proof of the divinity and Sonship of Jesus (Rom. 1:3-4).

“...about His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was revealed to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead, in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:3-4).

8. The Resurrection of Christ is the basis of our salvation. Jesus went to the cross because of our sins because a sacrifice was needed on which God's wrath would be poured out. And the resurrection of Christ became the basis of our justification and salvation.

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“... it will also be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our sins and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:24-25.

9. The Resurrection of Christ gives us the power to live a life that glorifies God.. The power of the Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead—as indicated by the fact of the Resurrection—is the same power that resides within us, giving hope for real change in our lives so that we can live a life that glorifies God.

“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).

“...and how exceedingly great is the greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens...” (Eph. 1:19-23; cf. Eph. 3 :20-21).

“...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).

Voice of Truth based on Pastor Kevin's blog