What happened after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Biblical story "The Resurrection of Christ

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 that, the resurrected Christ left the cave without rolling off the stone and without violating 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 there was an earthquake, when the Angel of the Lord, descended 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 soldiers, frightened by the Angel, fled.

Neither the myrrh-bearing women nor the disciples of Christ knew anything about what had happened. Since the burial of Christ was done hastily, the myrrh-bearing wives agreed on the day after the Easter holiday, that is, in our opinion, on Sunday, to go to the tomb and finish anointing the body of the Savior with fragrant ointments. They did not even know about the Roman guard assigned to the coffin and about the attached seal. When the dawn began to appear, Mary Magdalene, Mary Jacobleva, 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 the tomb for us?”- because, as the Evangelist explains, the stone was great (). Mary Magdalene was the first to come to the tomb. Seeing the tomb empty, she ran back to the disciples Peter and John and informed them about the missing body of the Teacher. A little later, other myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb. They saw a young man in the tomb, sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe. The mysterious youth said to them: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus 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 disciples.

Meanwhile, the apostles Peter and John, having heard from Mary about what had happened, ran to the cave: but, finding in it only the linen and 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 this time, she saw in the tomb two angels in white robes who were sitting - one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus lay. The angels asked her: "Why are you crying?"(). After answering them, Mary turned back and saw Jesus Christ, but did not recognize Him. Thinking it was the gardener, she asked: "Mr! if you carried it,(Jesus Christ), then tell me where put it down and I'll take it". Then the Lord said to her: "Mary"! (). Hearing the voice and turning to Him, she recognized Christ and, exclaiming: "Teacher!" threw herself at His feet. But the Lord did not allow her to touch Himself, but ordered her to go to the disciples and tell about the miracle of the resurrection.

On the same morning, the soldiers came to the high priests and informed them about the appearance of the Angel and about the empty tomb. This news greatly excited the Jewish leaders: their anxious forebodings were fulfilled. Now their first task was to ensure that the people would not believe in the resurrection of Christ. Having gathered a council, they gave the soldiers a lot of money, ordering them to spread the rumor that the disciples of Jesus had stolen His body at night, while the soldiers were sleeping. The soldiers did everything in this way, and so the rumor about the theft of the body of the Savior then kept for a long time among the people.

A week later, 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 about His resurrection, the Lord allowed him to touch His wounds, and Thomas, who believed, fell at His feet, exclaiming: "My Lord and mine!"(). As the evangelists further relate, 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 ascended into heaven in the presence of the apostles, 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, waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, as the Lord had promised them.

Relationship Between Old Testament and New Testament Passover

As we know, the Old Testament time was the 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 in particular the predictions of the prophets, related to the coming of Jesus Christ and the advent of the New Testament times. Old Testament law, according to St. app. Paul, was "tutor to Christ" and "Shadow of future blessings" (; ).

The most significant event in the history of the Jewish people was its liberation from Egyptian slavery under the prophet Moses, one and a half thousand years before R. Chr. It was imprinted in the national Jewish holiday of Passover, which also celebrated other events related to the liberation from Egypt: the defeat of the Egyptian first-born by the Angel and the pardon of the Jewish ones, on whose houses signs were made with the blood of the Paschal lamb (Hence the word "Easter" - "pass by") ; the miracle of crossing the Red Sea and the death of the Egyptian army chasing the Jews; then - the receipt by the Jewish people of the Law on Mount Sinai and the establishment of a covenant with God, after which the Jewish people began to be considered the people of God. Since then, Jews, celebrating Easter and following the customs of their ancestors, have been eating the Paschal lamb with prayer and symbolic rites.

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 a deep inner connection between these two events, about which St. app. Paul in his letter to the Hebrews. Let us compare here the events of both Paschas in parallel.

From this comparison of Paschal events, we see how the events of the Old Testament Pascha served as a prototype of the New Testament and announced great spiritual changes that should take place in the life of mankind after the resurrection of the Messiah. That is why the apostles, celebrating the New Testament Passover, affirmed: "Our Easter, Christ, slain for us" ().

Prophecies about the Resurrection of Christ

Many Old Testament prophecies testify to the resurrection of the Messiah. Among them it is necessary to mention those who predicted that the Messiah would be not only a man, but also God and therefore will be immortal in His divine nature. See, for example: Psalms 2, 44 and 109, , , , . The resurrection of the Messiah is also indirectly evidenced by the prophecies that speak of 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, which occupies the entire 53rd chapter of his book. The prophet Isaiah, who lived more than 700 years BC, describing the sufferings of Christ in such detail as if he stood at the very foot of the cross, ends his narrative with the following words:

“He was assigned a tomb with villains, but he was buried with a rich man, because he did not sin, and there was no lie in his mouth. But the Lord was pleased to strike him, and he gave him over to torment; when his soul offers a propitiatory offering, he will see offspring lasting, and the will of the Lord successfully will be fulfilled by His hand. He will look with contentment at the feat of His soul; through the knowledge of Him, He, the Righteous, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. That's why I will give him a share among the great ones, and with the strong he will share the booty.” ().

The final words of this prophecy directly say that the Messiah, after His saving suffering and death, will come to life and be glorified by God the Father. The king also predicted the resurrection of Christ David in the 15th psalm, in which, on behalf of Christ, David says: “I have always seen the Lord before me, for He is at the right hand(on the right hand) me; I won't hesitate. Wherefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue rejoiced; even my flesh will rest in hope(hope) for you will not leave my soul in hell and you will not let your holy one see corruption, you will show me the way of life: fullness of joy is before your face, blessedness is in 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. That is why the apostles were so successful in spreading faith in the resurrected Christ among the Jewish people, despite the 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 that will take place by the power of almighty God 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 - scary, like the walking dead. The Lord foretold about the general resurrection in the following words: the time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice(voice) Son of God; and go those who did good to the resurrection of life, and those who did evil to 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 Jesus Christ 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. That was a temporary awakening from death, so that after a certain time the 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 unite with their incorruptible bodies. At the general resurrection, righteous people will rise transfigured, 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 shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" ().

The holiday of Christian Easter is celebrated by Orthodox Christians so joyfully 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 paradise, conquered bonds death, poured life and light into the souls of believers. It is also remarkable that Paschal joy extends 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 in the victory of life over.

Easter service

There is no divine service more bright and joyful than the Orthodox Easter. The Easter service begins with a procession around the church, with lit candles in the hands of all those gathered and with singing: “Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven: and on earth grant us (worthy) glorify Thee with a pure heart.” This procession is reminiscent of the procession of myrrh-bearing women in the early morning to the tomb of the Savior to anoint His most pure Body. Having bypassed the temple, the procession stops in front of the closed main doors, and the priest begins Matins with an exclamation: “Glory to the Holy, consubstantial, life-giving and indivisible Trinity ...” Then, like an angel who announced to the myrrh-bearing women about the resurrection of Christ, he sings three times, together with other clergymen, troparion of Pascha: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death and bestowing life on those in the tombs." The singing of the priests is picked up by the choir. Then the head priest proclaims the prophetic verses of the psalm: "Let God arise and his enemies be scattered." The final words of each verse are taken up joyfully by the chanters: "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 chanters finish it: “And to those in the tombs, bestowing life.” The doors of the temple at this time 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 Paschal canon: “Resurrection Day”, composed by the reverend. During the singing of the canon, the clergy repeatedly they perform a full incense of the temple and greet the worshipers with the words: “Christ is risen!” To which they loudly answer: “Truly He is risen!” At the end of Matins, an inspired sermon of St. John Chrysostom is read, which begins with the words: “If (if) anyone is pious.”

Ordinary Hours are not read, they are replaced by the singing of Easter hymns. The Liturgy is celebrated immediately after Matins. Instead of the usual psalms, special antiphons are sung: short prayers with verses; instead of "Holy God", it is sung "They were baptized into Christ." The gospel is read about the pre-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 nations in their native languages. Instead of “It is worthy to eat”, the following zadostoynik 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 tomb on the third day after death and raised the dead: rejoice people!”

“Glorify, glorify, New Jerusalem (Church), because the glory of the Lord has shone over you: now triumph and rejoice Zion! But you, Pure One, rejoice in the resurrection of the One Born by You.

According to the prayer behind the ambo, the artos is consecrated - a special bread with the image of the Resurrection of Christ on it. At one of the subsequent divine services, the artos is broken up and distributed to those who believe in the memory of the appearance of the resurrected Christ to the apostles Luke and Cleopas (who recognized Him after He broke bread). On the very first day of St. Easter consecrates eggs, cheese and butter, as well as Easter cakes, which believers break the fast. On the day of St. Easter believers greet each other with a fraternal kiss with the words: “Christ is risen” (they share Christ) and exchange colored eggs, which serve as a symbol of the resurrection. On all days of the Easter week, the royal doors remain open as a sign that by the resurrection of Christ, access to Heaven is open to all people. From the first day of St. Easter before Vespers of the feast of the Holy Trinity (within 50 days), prostrations should not be done.

Easter canon in Russian translation

Song 1

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

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

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

Song 3

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

Now everything was filled with light - heaven, earth and (places) of the underworld; let the whole creation celebrate the resurrection of Christ, on whom we are established.

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

Song 4

Irmos: May Habakkuk, who proclaimed about God, stand with us on the Divine guard and show us the luminiferous Angel, clearly exclaiming: now is the salvation of the world, because Christ is risen as omnipotent (;).

The crown blessed by us is Christ, like a one-year-old lamb voluntarily slaughtered for all on the cleansing Pascha, and again from the tomb He shone for us, the beautiful Sun of truth.

The Godfather David galloped in rapture before the symbolic ark; but we, the holy people of God, seeing the fulfillment of the types, let us rejoice sacredly; for Christ is risen as the almighty ().

Song 5

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

Seeing Your immeasurable mercy, Christ, held in hellish fetters, joyfully hastened to the light, glorifying the eternal Pascha.

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

Song 6

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

Without damaging the imprisoned (womb) of the Virgin in Your birth, O Christ, You rose from the tomb, keeping the seals intact, and opened the doors of paradise to us.

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

Song 8

Irmos: This eminent and sacred day, the only one, the king and Lord among the Sabbaths, is a feast of feasts and a triumph of feasts; on this day let us bless Christ forever.

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

Raise your eyes, Zion, and look around you: behold, they flocked to you - like divinely luminous luminaries from the west, north, sea and east - your children, blessing Christ in you forever ().

The Almighty Father, and the Word, and the Spirit, - a single Being in three Persons, the Most High and Divine! We were baptized into You and we will bless You forever and ever.

Song 9

Irmos: Enlighten, enlighten, new Jerusalem; for the glory of the Lord has shone upon you; rejoice now and rejoice, Zion. You, Pure (Mother of God), rejoice in the uprising of the One Born by you! ().

Oh, how divine, sweet and joyful is your word, O Christ! You promised to be with us without fail until the end of the age. Having this as a pillar of hope, we, the faithful, rejoice ().

O Easter, great and sacred, Christ! O wisdom, Word of God and power! Make us worthy to partake of You more perfectly in the never-ending day of Your Kingdom ().

Notes

1 . The Holy Fire testifies to the miracle of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, which annually descends (lights up) 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 origin of this fire is inexplicable. When it appears, the blessed fire does not burn and its flame can be driven over the face. Only after a while the fire reaches its normal temperature. The Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (or his deputy), having received the Holy Fire, lights candles for them, which he immediately distributes to the numerous pilgrims gathered in the temple. The miraculous fire makes a great impression on all those present in the temple and causes joy. It is also remarkable that the Holy Fire descends only for the Orthodox and always on Orthodox Easter. Representatives of other faiths, who also serve in this temple, do not receive the Holy Fire.

2. The Jewish Passover is celebrated on the 14th day of the lunar month of Nisan. This day always falls in the spring, on a full moon. The Christian Easter is closely related to the Jewish Passover. The First Ecumenical Council, which met in Nicaea in the year 325, decided to celebrate the Christian Easter on Sunday during the spring equinox, and always after the Jewish Passover. Guided by this decision of the Council and astronomical calculations, the Alexandrian scientists developed a system for calculating the day of Orthodox Easter for each year. This is how Paschalia arose - a table of Easter days for many years to come. The alternation of Easter days is repeated every 532 years (indiction). According to Paschalia, the earliest Orthodox Easter falls on March 22, old style (April 4, new style), and the latest - April 25, old. style (May 8, according to the new style). With the movement of Easter, the holidays of the Lord's Entry 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) also move, depending on it. According to Paschalia, in 1992 Easter will be on April 26th; in 1993 - April 18th; 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 the 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.

Usually the Romans threw the bodies of the crucified into a common pit - or worse, they left them on the Cross until the bodies were pecked by birds and animals were taken away. But one of the members of the Jewish supreme council - the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and a disciple of Jesus, came to the Roman governor - Pontius Pilate, and asked him for permission to take the body of Jesus. On the part of Joseph, this was a manifestation of great fidelity - to express interest in the Preacher, who was executed on charges of rebellion, meant putting himself at risk. In addition, the pious Jews avoided entering the house of the pagan Romans. Joseph, however, went to great lengths to ensure Jesus had a proper burial. At that time, people were buried in rock-cut tombs. Joseph's property was a tomb in which no one had yet been laid. He decided to donate it to Jesus - and laid His body there, closing the entrance to the tomb, as was usually done, with a huge stone. The next day, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered and asked Pilate to put guards at the tomb so that the disciples would not steal the body and declare Jesus resurrected.

As the Gospel says, “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven, approached, 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; fearful of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men; The angel, turning his speech to the women, said: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified; He is not here - He is 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 ahead of you in Galilee; you will see him there. Behold, I have told you” (Mt 28:1-7).

The place where the Lord was buried - and resurrected - from the very beginning of the Christian Church was the subject of reverence. After Christianity became the state religion, the pious Empress Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, visited the Holy Sepulcher, who ordered that a temple be erected on this site in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. The temple was solemnly consecrated in the presence of Emperor Constantine on September 13, 335.

Centuries have passed since then; power in Jerusalem passed from hand to hand, the temple was destroyed and rebuilt, but the flow of pilgrims from all over the world who wanted to honor the place of the Resurrection of Christ did not dry up for a day. As Isaiah prophesied centuries before Christ, “And many nations will go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths; For out of Zion the law will go forth, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

Why was Jesus Christ resurrected?

The gospel emphasizes that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a victory over sin and death on a universal scale, a victory that concerns every person.

Before that, there were other cases of the return of dead people to life: the Lord resurrected, for example, the son of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:11) and in the most amazing and miraculous way - Lazarus (Jn 11). But this was the return of people to ordinary life, which still ends in death. Saint Lazarus, as Church Tradition tells us, became a bishop in Cyprus and died thirty years after his resurrection. But “Christ, having risen from the dead, dies no more; death has no more power over him” (Rom. 6:9). It is this, qualitatively different, eternal and blessed life that Christ will share with those who trust Him and follow Him: He will once again (and forever) resurrect both Lazarus and all pious Christians.

The resurrection, which the Lord repeatedly foretold even before His suffering, is also the seal of God's approval on everything Jesus said and did.

Eyewitnesses of His ministry convey to us His words, they are preserved in the Gospels. As even His adversaries admitted, "Never did a man speak like this Man."

Jesus said that He was with the Father before the world was. That it is He, Jesus, who will judge all nations at the last day. That our eternal life is determined by whether we turn to Him in repentance and faith. And He said that the purpose of His coming was to suffer and die for the sins of people. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).

After forty days, He ascended to the Father, instructing His disciples to preach the Good News of His resurrection: “And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15,16)

Through faith and Baptism, people enter into a mystical union with Christ, abide “in Christ,” as Scripture says, so that He takes away their sins and partakes them of His eternal life. This union is carried out in the Church - a community where the Risen One, invisibly, but effectively and savingly, dwells among His faithful.

Having completed their earthly journey, they move to Him and abide in the inexpressible light and joy of His presence. The day will come when the Lord will return in glory to judge the world, forever and finally crush the forces of evil. Then the dead will be resurrected and enter into the blissful life of the saved and transfigured universe.

And we already see the dawn of this day in the Resurrection of Christ.

In what year did Jesus Christ resurrect?

The Gospels report that Christ began his ministry when he was about 30 years old, and it lasted three years, therefore the Crucifixion and Resurrection took place in the year 33 AD - after all, we count the years of “AD” from the Nativity of Christ. True, it is possible that in the Middle Ages, when determining the exact date of Christmas, a mistake was made, and in reality the Lord was born between 12 and 7 BC, which, accordingly, changes the exact date of the Resurrection, but this is not so important; the historical context of this event is important for us.

In the 1st century the whole world was pagan, people worshiped many deities. These gods were neither omnipotent, nor omniscient, nor all-good. It was even impossible to say that they love people, they could have favorites, as rulers have favorites, but love for people in general ... No, this was not. The gods could have a rather quarrelsome and dissolute character and often conflicted with each other.

But in Jerusalem they believed quite differently. The ancient Jews were different from their pagan neighbors - they were, as we now say, monotheists. They believed that there was only one true God, the Creator of all things. God, who is the unconditional Master of human history and directs it towards the goals that He has determined. This God made a Covenant with His people, that is, entered into close, family relationships with the people whom He chose and drew near.

The Old Testament - the part of the Bible that tells about events that took place before the birth of Jesus Christ - recounts the long, often painful history of God's people. People swore allegiance to God, but then they cheated and fell into idolatry. The sin of the people led to terrible disasters - the pagans destroyed the city and drove people into captivity. People repented and turned to God and got the opportunity to return. All this time, God sent prophets to the people - people who denounced the worship of false gods, injustice and oppression, and called the people and the nobility to repentance. But the prophets conveyed another message - that God would send the Savior, the Messiah, to people.

The word "Messiah", Mashiach, or, in Greek, "Christ" means "the anointed one." In ancient times, when a person was appointed to some extremely important ministry, a prophet or a king, they poured sacred oil on his head, a special kind of oil, as a sign that God gives him power and strength to fulfill the mission entrusted to him.

Over time, the word “anointed one” began to mean a king and a prophet in some absolute, final sense - the one who will establish the Kingdom of peace and justice on earth and forever defeat the forces of evil and sin.

When the Lord Jesus went out to preach, someone responded to His words with sincere faith, realizing that this is the Christ foretold by the prophets, but many saw in Him a threat to their power, their authority, their habitual way of life. Jesus' opponents slandered Him before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, presenting Him as a rebel against the Roman authorities.

Jesus was sentenced to a terrible death, which the Romans subjected those who rebelled against them - to the Crucifixion on the Cross. The executioner was first beaten with scourges with sewn in lead spikes, which cut the body to the bone, then they nailed the arms and legs to the cross so that his death was as painful and terrifying as possible.

On the screen saver: a fragment of a photo of the Descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, author - Tsafir Abayov

RESURRECTION OF JESUS ​​CHRIST

Resurrection [gr. ἀνάστασις; lat. resurrectio] of Jesus Christ, the return of Jesus Christ to life after His death and burial caused by the crucifixion on the Cross. The great Christ established in memory of this event bears the same name. a holiday called the Bright Resurrection of Christ or Easter.

Sunday night events

The events of the night on which Jesus Christ was resurrected are described in the 4 Gospels (Mt 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-11; Lk 24:1-12; John 20:1-18). A brief mention of some of them is in the 1st Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (15:4-5). Since the descriptions of the evangelists differ significantly, attempts have been made since ancient times to compile a general chronology of Paschal events (Tatian, Hesychius); in Russian to biblical studies, the sequence of events of Easter night is given by the priest. T. Butkevich, A. Pakharnaev, prot. M. Sobolev and others. But, except for the facts known from the Gospels, all chronologies are in the nature of assumptions. The facts about which the Gospels testify are as follows.

Saturday late in the evening
when the 1st day of the week began (τῇ ἐπιφωσκούδηι εἰς μίαν σαββάτων; in the Synodal translation: “at the dawn of the first day of the week”; in the East, a new day began in the evening),
Galilean women came to the tomb, in which they put Jesus Christ, in order, according to the Jewish custom, to anoint His body with embalming substances, which they did not have time to do on Friday, the evening of which was already considered the beginning of Saturday, i.e. "rest day ".
Some wives are mentioned by St. Matthew (28.1), others - Ap. Mark (16.1), "and Mary Magdalene was the companion of all, as the most diligent and zealous" His disciple (Theoph. Bulg. In Matth. 28).
They found that the stone had been rolled away (Mk 16:4; Lk 24:2; Jn 20:1) and the tomb was empty.

After Saturday evening, the Lord Jesus Christ had already risen. “God raised Him up, breaking the bands of death, because it was impossible for her to hold Him” (Acts 2:24).
How the Resurrection happened, not a single Gospel tells - this is the Mystery of the omnipotence of God, which cannot be described. Some interpreters believe that along with the women there was the Rev. The Theotokos is “another Mary” (the liturgical Tradition speaks about this in the synaxaric reading on Holy Week of Easter; compare with Theophylact of Bulgaria: “By Mary, the mother of Jacob, understand the Mother of God, for She was so called as the imaginary mother of Jacob, the son of Joseph, I mean brother of God" - Theoph. Bulg. In Luc. 24. 1-12), others believe that it was Mary Cleopova or Mary Jacobleva (perhaps this is the same person; cf.: Euseb. Hist. eccl. III 11 ), Eusebius of Caesarea believes that there were 2 Marys from Magdala, which is why the 2nd Mary is called the “other Mary” by the evangelist (Euseb. Quaest. evangel. // PG. 22. Col. 948). The facts of indirect evidence of the accomplishment of the main event do not require accuracy from the evangelists.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, at the moment the women arrived, “there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven, having come, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow” (Mt 28:2-3). An angel of the Lord (or “a young man ... dressed in white clothes” - Mk 16.5, or “two men in shining clothes” - Lk 24.4; cf. Gen. 19.5 ff.) informs the wives about the accomplishment of the great Mystery. It is only clear that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ took place in a closed tomb on the third day, as Christ Himself told the disciples about this (Mt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mk 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; Lk 9.22; 18.33; Jn 2.19-22) and how the angel preached to the myrrh-bearing women: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here: He is risen; remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must rise on the third day” (Lk 24:5-7; Mt 28:5-6; Mk 16:6).

Mary Magdalene reports St. Peter and “another disciple whom Jesus loved (the apostle John, cf. John 21.20, 24.- M.I.): “They carried the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they laid Him” (John 20.1 -2).
Both disciples, as well as, apparently, Mary Magdalene, run to the cave and find in it only “the linens lying and the cloth that was on His head, not lying with the linen, but especially wrapped in another place” (Jn 20. 3-7).
Ap. John immediately “believed” that Christ had risen (Jn 20:8), this is the first revelation of faith in the Risen One (“he who had not seen and believed”; cf.: Jn 20:29).

Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem, and Mary remained at the tomb and wept.
At that time, she saw 2 angels in the cave, who asked her: “Wife! Why are you crying?" Mary Magdalene answered: “They have carried away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.

Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing; but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus says to her: Wife! Why are you crying? who are you looking for? She, thinking that this is a gardener, turns to Him: sir! if you have carried it, tell me where you have put it, and I will take it.

Jesus says to her: Mary! She turned and said to Him: Rabbi! - which means: "Teacher!"

Jesus says to her: do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and say to them: “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (Jn 20:11-17). Mary Magdalene leaves the burial place to fulfill the command of the Divine Teacher (Jn 20:18).

At dawn, other myrrh-bearing women also come to the cave. They also saw a stone rolled away from the entrance to the cave, and in the cave itself - an angel and were horrified (Mark 16: 1-5).
The angel said to them, “Don't be terrified. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene crucified; He is risen, He is not here. Here's the place where He was laid. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is ahead of you in Galilee; there you will see him…” (Mk 16:6-7).
The women “ran with fear and great joy to tell His disciples” (Mt 28:8). On the way they were met by the resurrected Christ “and said: rejoice!” (Matthew 28:9).

The appearance of an angel, whose appearance “was like lightning”, caused a strong fright among the guards guarding the cave, “the guards trembled and became like dead people” (Mt 28. 2-4).
They told the Jewish high priests about this, and they, after conferring with the elders, gave the soldiers “enough money” to spread the false version of the disappearance of the body from the tomb, according to which the disciples of Christ stole His body, which was not noticed by the guards sleeping at that time ( Matthew 28:11-15).

The description of the Resurrection event itself, that is, how Jesus Christ came to life and found himself outside the burial cave, is absent in the canonical New Testament texts and is available only in the apocryphal Gospel of Peter. Nobody saw this event. Even Rev. The Virgin, to whom, according to Church Tradition, the Risen One appeared first, sees Christ after His Resurrection. Therefore, the event of V. as such was never depicted in Byzantium. and ancient Russian. iconography.

Testimony of Jesus Christ and the Apostles about the Resurrection

Having power over life and death (Jn 11:25), Christ not only resurrected the dead (daughter of Jairus - Mt 9:18-19, 23-25; son of a widow from the city of Nain - Lk 7:11-15; Lazarus from the village of Bethany - Jn 11.1 ff.), which foreshadowed His own resurrection from the dead, but also predicted His Resurrection.
He repeatedly told His disciples, “that the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him, and after he has been killed he will rise again on the third day” (Mark 9:31; cf.: 8:31; 10:34).
At the same time, Jesus Christ referred to the Old Testament “sign of Jonah”, “for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Mt 12. 39-40).
He also spoke “about the temple of His body” (John 2:21): “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19; cf. Mt 26:61). These words were not understood by those to whom they were addressed (John 2:20).
And only the disciples of Christ, "when ... He rose from the dead, they remembered that He had said this, and believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus said" (Jn 2:22).
However, they do not come to faith in the Resurrection of Christ immediately. They do not believe what they are told about the events of the Paschal night of the myrrh-bearing wife (Mark 16:11; Luke 24:11); app. Thomas does not believe that "the other disciples" "saw the Lord" (John 20:25); "two of them" (Cleopas - Luke 24.18 and, possibly, the Evangelist Luke, which is why he hid his name; cf.: Theoph. Bulg. In Luc. 24.13-24), called by Jesus Christ "foolish and slow heart” because of their unbelief “in everything that the prophets foretold (about Christ. - M.I.)” (Lk 24:25), believed in the Risen One only when He Himself, “beginning from Moses”, explained “to them what was said about Him in all Scripture” (Lk 24:26-27), and at the end of the meeting he was revealed to them “in the breaking of bread” (Lk 24:35).
The resurrected Christ appeared to His apostles and disciples "for forty days" (Acts 1:3) ("for many days" - Acts 13:31).
He explained the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:27:44-46), revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), to assure them of His Resurrection “He showed them His hands and feet and His ribs” (Jn 20:20:27 ; Lk 24.39), ate food with them (Lk 24.41-43; Jn 21.9-15), prepared them for bud. evangelistic ministry (Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; John 20:21-23).
The information of the evangelists about the appearances of the risen Christ is supplemented by St. Paul. He points out that Christ "appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time"; then to “James, also to all the Apostles; and after all he appeared to me too, ie, ap. Paul (1 Cor 15:6-8), although the appearance of Jesus Christ to the apostle took place much later than the previous appearances (Acts 9:3-6).
Despite the fact that the disciples see the Risen One, touch Him, eat with Him, the body of Christ was no longer subject to the usual conditions of earthly life.
On the day of His Resurrection, according to the testimony of the Evangelist John, “when the doors of the house where His disciples gathered were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them: Peace be with you!” (20.19).
Through locked doors Christ comes to His disciples 8 days after the Resurrection (Jn 20:26). He is not recognized even by people close to Him, for their eyes are "retained" (Lk 24:16; Jn 20:15).
During the breaking of bread in the village of Emmaus, when "the eyes" of Jesus Christ's companions "were opened" and they recognized Him, "He became invisible to them" (Luke 24:30-31).
The resurrected Christ appears “not to the world” (John 14:22), but only to a limited circle of those whom He has chosen, because for the world lying in evil (1 John 5:19), He is “the stone that the builders rejected ... the stone stumbling block and stone of offense” (1 Peter 2:7).
Therefore, even the guard does not see Him, although at the time of the Resurrection she is directly at the burial cave.

Apostolic preaching from the time of the founding of the Church was a preaching about the resurrected Christ, and the apostles themselves called themselves "witnesses" of the Resurrection (Acts 2.32; 3.15).
His resurrection for them is the foundation of Christ. faith, for “if Christ is not risen,” says St. Paul to the Christians of Corinth, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain” (1 Cor 15:14).
“And if in this life alone we hope in Christ,” not believing in His Resurrection, which became the guarantee of the resurrection of all people, “then we are more unfortunate than all men” (1 Cor 15:19).
Despite the fact that they were not witnesses of the very moment of the rise of Jesus Christ from the tomb, the apostles testify first of all to the very fact of the Resurrection (Acts 2.24; 4.10, etc.) Old Testament prophecies about Christ).
Yes, app. On the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, Peter revealed to the audience the messianic meaning of the 15th psalm, pointing out that the words of Prop. David: “You will not leave my soul in hell, and you will not let your holy one see corruption” (Acts 2.27) - they do not refer to the prophet himself, for “he both died and was buried” (Acts 2.29), but to the risen Christ (Acts 2:30-31).
Addressing the members of the Sanhedrin, St. Peter explains that under the Old Testament image of the cornerstone (Is 28:16; cf. Ps 117:22) one should also understand Jesus Christ whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead (Acts 4:10-12).
In the Resurrection of Christ, St. Paul sees the fulfillment of the promise "given to the fathers" (Acts 13:32), while emphasizing that the Risen One "will no longer return to corruption" (Acts 13:34).
The theme of the Resurrection is constantly present in his sermon: not only when he addresses the Jews with their messianic aspirations, but also to the pagans who worshiped the “unknown God” (Acts 17.23, 31-32).

15th ch. his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians can rightfully be called, as Fr. Georgy Florovsky, “The Gospel of the Resurrection” (G. Florovsky On the Resurrection of the Dead // Relocation of Souls: Problems of Immortality in Occultism and Christianity: Sat. St. P., 1935. P. 135).
In it app. Paul writes not only about the very fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also about the significance of this event in Christ. soteriology, correlating it with Bud. the general resurrection of the human race.

The theme of V.I.Kh. in the patristic heritage

Continuing the apostolic tradition, patristic thought constantly turns to this theme.
Already at the turn of the I and II centuries. in the most ancient Eucharistic prayer contained in the Didache, the first Christians thank the Heavenly Father for "immortality", which He "revealed through Jesus, His Son" (Didache. 10).
At the same time, schmch. Ignatius the God-bearer opposes docetism, rooted in Gnosticism, which denied the reality of the physical body of Jesus Christ and, accordingly, recognized His suffering and resurrection as imaginary.
Christ, emphasizes schmch. Ignatius, “suffered truly, as truly, and resurrected Himself, and not as some unbelievers say, as if He suffered illusory. They themselves are a ghost…” (Ign. Ep. ad Smyrn. 2).
Appealing to the gospel facts of the appearance of the risen Christ, schmch. Ignatius points out that Christ, after the resurrection, ate and drank with the disciples "as if he had flesh, although he was spiritually united with the Father" (Ibid. 3).
He, according to schmch. Ignatius, gave the apostles to touch Himself, so that they would be convinced that He was “not an incorporeal spirit” (Ibidem).
Shmch. Polycarp, Ep. Smirnsky. In the Epistle to the Philippians, he writes about Christ, “who suffered death itself for our sins, but whom God raised up, breaking the bonds of hell” (Polycarp. Ad Phil. 1; compare with the sermon of the Apostle Peter, in which he testifies, that “God raised him (i.e., Jesus Christ. - M.I.), breaking the bonds of death” - Acts 2. 24).

The patristic thought pays special attention to the expression “the first-born of the dead”, Krym ap. Paul names the resurrected Christ (1 Cor 15:20:23).
At the same time, she correlates it with the name "last Adam" given by the same apostle to Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:45).
Comparing after the apostle the two Adams (1 Cor 15.21-22, 45, 47-49), schmch. Irenaeus, Ep. Lyonsky, notes that Christ, as the new Adam, “headed (recapitulavit) all of humanity, giving us salvation, so that what we lost in (first. - M.I.) Adam ... we again received in Christ Jesus” (Iren. Adv. haer III 18.1, cf. III 18.7).
As the head of the human race, Christ, according to schmch. Irenaeus, can be called the “Head”, which is “risen from the dead”, so humanity is a “body”, “copied through connections” (Eph 4. 15-16) with this “Head” and resurrected together with Her (Iren Adv. haer III 19. 3).

Continuing this exegetical tradition, St. Theophan the Recluse writes: “Christ, as the Firstborn, had to go through the whole path of restoration in order to pave the way for those who are being restored. For this (He. - M.I.) dies in order to destroy the power of death, for this he rises in order to lay the foundation of resurrection for everyone, for this he enters into glory, so that everyone can open the door to entry into this glory ... For Him as for Of course, all mankind will follow the firstfruits” (Feofan (Govorov), Bishop Interpretation of the First Epistle of St. Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. M., 1893, pp. 547, 549).

Reflecting on the Resurrection, St. The fathers ask themselves: what fate would have awaited humanity if Christianity had not been crowned with the Resurrection of its Founder?
According to St. Gregory, Ep. Nyssky, humanity in this case would lose the most important thing - the highest meaning of its existence. If death is not conquered by Christ and “there is a limit to life”, “if there is no Resurrection, then because of what do people labor and think philosophically”, entering into a struggle with evil and with the anomalies of the surrounding world?
If the dead don't rise, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!"(1 Cor 15:32). (Greg. Nyss. In sanct. pascha. Col. 676).

To this text, App. Paul, quoted by St. Gregory, and addresses St. Filaret, Met. Moskovsky, calling it a "rule", which the apostle said "on behalf of those who do not know or do not want to know the resurrection."
This "rule," remarks St. Filaret, "it would be suitable for the moral philosophy of the dumb, if they had the advantage of philosophizing."
It “would make up all wisdom, all morality, all laws among people, if the thought of a future life were removed from them. Then do not be angry, neighbor and brother, if you also become the food of people who love to "eat and drink," for if it is not worth the trouble to build up your own life, because "we will die in the morning," then it is also not worth the trouble to spare the life of another, which Tomorrow, the grave will swallow without a trace.

"Philosophy of the wordless" Metropolitan. Filaret opposes faith in the resurrection and eternal life, the beginning of which was laid by the resurrected Christ (Filaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan Words and speeches. M., 18482. Part 1, p. 83).
Realizing that it is very difficult to have such a faith (cf. Acts 17:32), St. the fathers offer to go to her through the images of the resurrection observed in the surrounding nature.
“Lord,” writes schmch. Clement, Ep. Roman - constantly shows us the future resurrection, which the Lord Jesus Christ made the Firstfruit, raising Him from the dead.
Images of the resurrection ssmch. Clement sees in the change of day and night, in the appearance of new shoots from grain thrown into the ground, in the mythological legend about the Phoenix bird, which was widespread at that time, a worm is born from a rotting body, which then turns into a new bird (Clem. Rom. Ep. I ad Cor. 24, 25).
“Since the miracle of the resurrection is great and exceeds faith, the Lord ... - according to St. Gregory, Ep. Nyssa, - as if accustoms us to faith "in this miracle through his other miracles, in which the victory of life over death is seen.
“Beginning with the lower degrees of miracle-working” (by which St. Gregory means the healings from various diseases performed by Jesus Christ described in the Gospels), the Lord “exceeds” them with new miracles — the resurrection of people. And finally completes them with His own Resurrection (Greg. Nyss. De hom. opif. 25).

A deep and comprehensive theological analysis of the mystery of the Resurrection is given by St. Athanasius I the Great.
In explaining this mystery, he goes far beyond the framework of Christology and uses the doctrine of God, the Creator of the world, of human nature, and of sin.
Before him stood one of the main questions of Christ. soteriology: who and how could defeat the mortality of human nature.
Although the saint himself recognized the potential mortality of this nature even before it committed a sin, however, when this mortality from potential became real, the catastrophe that occurred turned out to be so significant that only He Who with omnipotence created the world “out of nothing” by His Word could overcome it.
The same Word, as the "Father's Image," recreates man, and He, as the "original life," resurrects the mortal, becoming, thus, "the firstfruits of the common resurrection" (Athanas. Alex. De incarn. Verbi. 20).
The Resurrection of Christ radically changes the meaning of death in the fate of man.
The tragedy of death is overcome; we are now “because of the mortality of the body, we are resolved (that is, we die. - M.I.) only for a while ... so that we can inherit a better resurrection” (Ibid. 21). Death is terrible only outside of Christ; “those who die as lost” are mourned by those who have no hope of the resurrection.

For Christians, "death is defeated and disgraced by the Savior on the cross, bound hand and foot." Therefore, "all who walk in Christ" tread it down and even laugh at it (Ibid. 27).<

For St. Cyril, Ep. Jerusalem, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is “the diadem of victory over death”, which replaced the crown of thorns and crowned Christ at the moment of His Resurrection (Сyr. Hieros. Catech. 14).

In the fact of the Resurrection of Christ, St. the fathers note 2 most important truths: human nature, perceived by the Savior, was resurrected “by the power of the Divinity dwelling in it and united with it” and “passed into a state of incorruption and immortality”, “putting aside corruption with passions” (Сyr. Alex. De incarn. Domini .27).

Christ's victory over death in patristic writings is usually portrayed through his victory over hell.
Hell, according to St. John Chrysostom, “confounded” by the Lord who descended into him, “mortified”, “deposed”, “bound” (Ioan. Chrysost. Hom. in Pascha). The Risen Christ, says St. Gregory the Theologian, “repelled the sting of death, crushed the gloomy gates of a dull hell, granted freedom to souls” (Greg. Nazianz. Hymn. ad Christ.). Using figurative language, St. John of Damascus likens death to a predatory fish, which, like hell, swallows sinners. “Having swallowed the Body of the Lord as a bait, (she. - M.I.) is pierced by the Divine, as if with a hook, and, having tasted the sinless and life-giving Body, she perishes and gives back everyone whom she once swallowed” (Ioan. Damasc. De fide orth.).

Theology of the Resurrection

The basis of Christ. The dogma of the Resurrection is made up of the words of Jesus Christ Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25).
The entire New Testament Paschal Gospel is built on them. Christ also points out that He is not only Life itself (John 14:6), but also the Source of life, “for just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26) .
Death, who reigns supreme over fallen humanity, has no power over the Son.
And although He passes His human nature through the gates of death, subject to the conditions of a sinful existence, death cannot hold Him.
It is omnipotent only in the world, which “lies in evil” (1 Jn 5:19).
Before Christ, she shows her complete impotence. Jesus Christ resurrects Himself and resurrects others as the Head of life (Acts 3:15).

The mystery of the Resurrection, revealed in all its power and glory on Paschal night, begins to be revealed already on the Cross.
The Cross of Christ is not only an instrument of shame, but also a sign of victory and triumph.
“Today we are celebrating a feast and a celebration,” writes St. John Chrysostom, for our Lord is nailed to the Cross” (Ioan. Chrysost. I De cruce et latrone. 1).
The death of Jesus Christ destroys the very foundation of death, tears out, according to ap. Paul, her "thorn" (1 Cor 15:55).
St. Cyril of Alexandria even calls the death of Christ "the root of life" (Сyr. Alex. In Hebr. // PG. 74. Col. 965).
On the Cross, by His death, Christ tramples death (troparion of the feast of St. Pascha).
Therefore, the "power of the Resurrection" is precisely the "power of the Cross", "invincible and indestructible, and the Divine power of the honest and life-giving Cross."
On the Cross, the Lord “lifts us up to the first blessedness,” and “Joy to the whole world comes through the Cross” (Florovskii, On the Death of the Cross, p. 170).
“Every, of course, the deed and wonderworking of Christ,” writes St. John of Damascus is very great, divine and amazing, but most amazing of all is His honest Cross.
For nothing else, as soon as death is abolished by the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ancestral sin is resolved, hell is deprived of its prey, the resurrection is granted ... the return to original bliss is arranged, the gates of paradise are opened, our nature is seated at the right hand of God, and we have become children of God and heirs .
All this is done by the Cross” (Ioan. Damasc. De fide orth. IV 11).

After death, the soul of Christ descends into hell, remaining in it united with God the Word.
Therefore, the descent into hell is the manifestation and victory of Life. “When you descended to death, Lifeless Life, then hell killed you with the radiance of the Divine” (Sunday troparion, tone 2).

The Lord Jesus Christ as the Head and Savior (Acts 5:30-31) “destroys” the “mortal habitation” (the Theotokos of the Paschal canon, 4th ode) of “the all-kind Adam” (Paschal troparion of the 6th ode) and brings him out of there.

It was this event that, under the influence of the Paschal hymnography, began to portray itself in Byzantium. iconography of the Resurrection of Christ.

The life path of suffering, culminating in the death of the Cross and the descent into hell, leads Jesus Christ to the glory of the Resurrection.
This glory is the seal of the entire redemptive feat of the God-man.
He foretells about it already at the Last Supper with his disciples: “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, then God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will soon glorify Him” (Jn 13:31-32).
The path to this glory lay through suffering and death, because the Son of God, united with fallen human nature, thereby subjected Himself to the conditions of an abnormal existence caused by human sin.
He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; humbled himself, being obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).
Through obedience to God the Father, Christ healed man from self-will that led him to sin, and revived his nature in Himself.
That is why “God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth…” (Philippians 2:9-10). The Incarnate Word enters into that glory which It had with the Father "before the world was" (John 17:5), and introduces there the regenerated human nature.
The latter, therefore, reaches such greatness that it is honored “in heaven” to sit “at the right hand” of God the Father “above all principality, and power, and strength, and dominion, and every name that is called not only in this age, but also in the future” (Eph 1:20-21).
God the Father, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Eph 1:20), “subjected all things under His feet and set Him above all things” (Eph 1:22). That is why the resurrected Christ tells His disciples that “all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him” (Mt 28:18).

By His Resurrection, having conquered death in Himself, Jesus Christ thereby conquered it in the entire human race, since He is the “last Adam” (or “Second Adam”) (1 Cor 15:45-49), from whom people inherit new nature and eternal life.
“We celebrate the mortification of death, hellish destruction, another life of the eternal beginning” (troparion of the 2nd song of the Easter canon).
This beginning is "..."a new creation", ἡ καινὴ κτίσις.
One might even say, an eschatological beginning, the last step on the historical path of salvation. (In the NT, the word καινός means not so much something "new" as "final", "referring to the final goal".
Throughout the text, the word obviously has an eschatological meaning.) ”(Florovsky G., Archpriest Dogma and History. M., 1998. P. 245).
The "mortification" of death, however, does not mean that after the Resurrection of Christ, people should no longer die.
The resurrected destroys only the absoluteness of death.
Although “even now,” as St. John Chrysostom, - we are still dying the old death, but we do not remain in it; And that doesn't mean dying...
The power of death and true death is that when the deceased no longer has the opportunity to return to life.
If, after death, he comes to life, and, moreover, a better life, then this is not death, but dormancy ”(Ioan. Chrysost. In Hebr. 17. 2).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ brought out of the ontological impasse not only the human race.
Its life-affirming power has a cosmic dimension.
How high the dignity of nature, cosmos, matter, is already evidenced by the Incarnation itself.
The hypostatic Word became flesh. It took over the whole created world; “all the matter of heaven and earth was concentrated in His body, from the simplest to the most incomprehensible” (Antony [Bloom], Metropolitan of Surozh. Word on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord // ZhMP. 1967. special issue “50th anniversary of the restoration of the patriarchate” pp. 67).
“Dust”, taken from the earth and constituting the bodily human organism, is perceived by the Divine in the Incarnation, again sanctifying and affirming in this act the path of the material world to transfiguration.
The body of Christ cannot be imagined only as a certain part withdrawn from the cosmos and therefore not belonging to the latter.
The incarnation was the real beginning of the transformation not only of man, the bearer of the image of his Creator, but also of matter itself, the handiwork of the Creator.
After the Resurrection of Christ, “everything rushes towards ἀποκατάστασις τῶν πάντων (“restoration of all things”) — that is, towards the complete restoration of everything that is destroyed by death, towards the illumination of the entire cosmos with the Glory of God…” (Lossky V. Dogmatic Theology, p. 286).
In the Resurrection, the universality of the Kingdom of God was revealed, in which, along with man, heaven, i.e., the spiritual world, and earth, i.e., the material world, are called.
They are called to become the new heaven and the new earth (Rev. 21:1), so that God becomes “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).
That is why “the whole creation,” writes St. Athanasius the Great - solemnly celebrates the feast (of the Resurrection of Christ. - M.I.) and every breath, according to the Psalmist, praises the Lord(Ps 150.6)" (Athanas. Alex. Ep. pasch. 6.10).

After the death of Christ, the chief priests and Pharisees could not rest. Even the dead Jesus was terrible to them. Fearing retribution, forgetting about the approaching Easter holiday, they placed guards at the tomb of the Lord, ordering her not to leave for a minute, and even put a seal on the stone. After Saturday night, a strong earthquake occurred, an angel of the Lord descended from heaven.

He was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow. The warriors who stood guard at the coffin came to awe and froze as if rooted to the spot. When they woke up, they fled in a panic and informed the high priests about what had happened.

It should be noted that this coexistence is not described in any of the Gospels, no one witnessed the Resurrection of Christ, and therefore it is still one of the miraculous phenomena. And yet, despite the absence of gospel sources, Resurrection of Christ for many centuries it has been and remains a common subject in art. We turn to the most famous works.

One of the masterpieces on this subject is the ancient Russian icon "Sunday" great master Dionysius.

The next day, at dawn, the myrrh-bearing women (carrying myrrh, that is, fragrant oil) came to the garden to anoint the body of the dead Christ with the aromas they had brought. But, approaching the cave, they saw that the huge stone that covered the entrance to it had been rolled away. An angel dressed in dazzling white clothes sat on a stone, who said to the women: “... do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified; He is not here—He is risen, as He said” (Matt. 28:5-6).

The women entered the cave, but did not find the body of Jesus there. The coffin was empty. With fear and joy, did the women run to announce Resurrection of Christ.

After resurrecting, Jesus appeared to people on earth several times before ascending to heaven on the fortieth day. One of the first he appeared to Mary Magdalene.

By the evening of the day when Jesus Christ resurrected and appeared to Mary Magdalene, two of his disciples, Cleopas and Luke, were walking to the small village of Emmaus, located 10-12 kilometers from Jerusalem. They quietly talked among themselves about the tragic events of the last days. On the way, a third traveler quietly joined them. It was Christ, but they did not recognize him. Having talked, they approached the village and, since it was already late, suggested that the traveler stay with them for the night. Christ agreed. material from the site

During the supper, he took bread, broke it, blessed it, and gave it to the disciples. At that moment, it was as if their eyes were opened, and they recognized their Teacher, but immediately Jesus Christ became invisible to them.

Left alone, the disciples remembered how their hearts were kindled when Jesus spoke. And although it was late, they, not hiding their excitement, again went to Jerusalem to tell the apostles about what had happened.

It's been eight days. All the disciples of Christ gathered together again. Among them was Thomas, who still did not believe in the Resurrection of Christ. Despite the locked doors of the house, Jesus appeared before the apostles. Doubting Thomas asked permission to touch the wounds of Christ. Making sure that the Teacher was in front of him, Thomas exclaimed: “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28).

The Orthodox holiday "The Resurrection of Christ", which is also called Velikden or Easter, is the oldest and greatest among Christian holidays, and one of the main among the twelve Orthodox holidays that the church celebrates with special solemnity.

According to the Synoptic Gospels, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place on Nisan 15 (the first month of the year in the Jewish religious calendar). Evangelist John, however, specifies that Jesus died on Nisan 14, at the time when the lambs were sacrificed in the Temple on the Jewish holiday of Pesach. The Pesach holiday, which means “to pass by,” is the Old Testament Jewish Passover, which is celebrated in honor of the release of the Israeli people from Egyptian slavery. The name of the holiday is associated with an angel who came to Egypt to destroy all the firstborn, but when he saw the blood of the Paschal lamb on the doors of the Jewish house, he passed by.

In the Christian Church, the name "Easter" received a special understanding and began to denote the transition from death to life, from earth to Heaven. This is precisely what is expressed in the sacred hymns of the Church: "Easter, the Lord's Easter, for from death to life and from earth to heaven, Christ God has translated us, singing a song of victory."

For the first Christians, the Passion of Christ, His death became the hope for liberation from sins, because Christ himself becomes the Lamb of God. He, having brought a majestic sacrifice, with his blood and suffering gives humanity a new chance for life in the light of the New Testament.

The description of the historical event of the Resurrection of Christ, which is present in all the Gospels, originates from the Jerusalem community. From there comes the first exclamation with which the Paschal liturgies all over the world open: “Christ is Risen!”.

According to the Gospel, the Resurrection of the Savior is a secret act of God, during which not a single person was present. Only the consequences of this event became known to the inner circle of Jesus Christ - the myrrh-bearing women, who first saw His death and burial, and then saw that the tomb where they put Him became empty. And at that moment the Angel announced to them about the resurrection and sent to tell this message to the apostles.

The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ was established by the Apostolic Church and was already celebrated in those days. Special names were used to designate the first and second parts of the holiday: Easter of the Cross, that is, Easter of suffering, and Sunday Easter, that is, Easter of the Resurrection. After the Council of Nicaea, held in 325, new names were introduced - Holy and Bright weeks, and the day of the Resurrection itself was called Easter.

In the first centuries of Christianity, Easter was not celebrated at the same time in different places. In the East, in the churches of Asia Minor, they celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan (March), regardless of what day of the week it was. And the Western Church honored her on the first Sunday of the spring full moon. An attempt to establish agreement on this issue between the Churches was made in the middle of the 2nd century under St. Polycarp, Ep. Smirnsky, but without success.

Two different customs existed before the 1st Ecumenical Council (325). At the Council, it was decided to celebrate Easter everywhere according to the rules of the Alexandrian Church - after the spring full moon between April 4 and May 8, but that Christian Easter should always be celebrated after the Jewish one.

Holiday traditions

Easter celebrations begin with a detour around the church, accompanied by bells. This detour is a symbolic procession of the myrrh-bearing women on Sunday morning to the Lord's tomb.

After the detour, before the closed doors of the church, as before the sealed tomb of God, matins begins in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. Here, for the first time, we hear the joyful proclamation: “Christ is risen from the dead...”, and while singing the same song, the priest opens the doors of the church with a cross as a sign that Christ’s death has opened the way to Heaven for mankind.

The oldest Christian statutes say that at the end of Sunday Matins, during the singing of the stichera of Pascha, with the words “and let us embrace each other”, a mutual kiss took place, which today is called “christening”. People greet each other: “Christ is risen! - Truly risen!

All the time throughout the entire Bright Week of the holiday, the doors in the iconostasis remain open as a sign that Christ, by his resurrection, opened the doors of the Kingdom of God to mankind.

On the day of Pascha, at the holy liturgy, after the prayer beyond the ambo, the artos is blessed. "Artos" is translated from Greek as "bread". Artos is a symbol of the bread of eternal life - our Lord Jesus Christ. On the artos you can see the icon of the Resurrection. Artos stands on the throne or on the tetrapod all Bright Week. On Bright Saturday, after a special prayer, it is crushed and distributed to believers.

During the period of Pentecost, namely from the feast of Easter to the feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of Sunday joy, they do not bow, do not kneel. At the Council of Nicaea, it was proclaimed: “Because some kneel on the days of the Lord and on the days of Pentecost, for the sake of uniformity in all dioceses, at this time they offer standing prayers to God” (Rule 20). The Sixth Ecumenical Council also has a similar decision in Canon 90.

During the celebration of Easter, and sometimes during the entire Bright Week, the daytime bell sounds as a sign of the victory of Jesus Christ over death and over hell.

The Ukrainian people have a custom to bless food on Easter. After a long fast, the Holy Church allows all kinds of food so that the faithful during the Paschal feasts, along with spiritual joy, also have joy from earthly gifts. The blessing of Paschal food takes place solemnly after the holy liturgy, usually in the churchyard.

The glorious Ukrainian krashenka and pysanky, which are of ancient origin, are associated with the blessing of Easter cakes. The ancient peoples had a custom according to which it was impossible to appear for the first time in front of a person occupying a high position in society without a gift. Reverent legends say that Mary Magdalene, preaching the science of Christ, went into the courtyard of the Roman emperor Tiberius and gave him a red egg as a gift with the words: “Christ is risen!”, And only after that did she begin her sermon. Other Christians followed her example and began to present each other with Easter eggs or Easter eggs on the day of the Easter holiday.

The egg plays such a big role in Easter customs because it has become a symbol of Christ's Resurrection. Just as new life is born from a dead egg shell, so Jesus Christ came out of the tomb into new life. The red egg is a symbol of our salvation through the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Various Easter amusements for children and adults are associated with Easter eggs and Easter eggs.

The divine essence of the holiday

The Resurrection of Christ is the liberation of mankind from the burden of sins, the transition from death to Life, from suffering to Love. This majestic and incomprehensible action is the indestructible foundation of the Christian faith. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is evidence that Jesus Christ is the true God and Savior.

Christ died in body, having endured great mockery and torment, both bodily and spiritual. But His physical (human) manifestation is united with God the Word into a single Hypostasis. And death itself, which kept the souls of men even for small offenses, could not have power over Him. Christ descended into hell to conquer death itself and rose again on the third day, freeing Adam and the entire human race from the slavery of sin.

Because of the original sin of Adam, the bodily beginning of the human race, mankind submitted to the law of death, and Jesus Christ became the Liberator of mankind, showing the victory of the spirit over the body. Jesus Christ approved the New Covenant between humanity and God, bringing a Majestic sacrifice before Divine justice. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His Resurrection, also made people victorious over death and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven thanks to the saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in due time, what happened to Jesus Christ will also happen to all mankind. The Apostle Paul clearly and confidently testifies: "As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Cor. XV:22).

The light of God's Resurrection on this day touches every believing soul, giving indescribable joy, love and new hope, igniting vital faith in the victory of the Spirit over the flesh. The New Testament, the Testament of Love, given to us by God, unites the earth and Heaven, bringing the Kingdom of Heaven closer to human hearts, opening the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven through our Savior Jesus Christ.

1 And after the sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, who came down from heaven, came and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it;

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow;

4 When they were afraid of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.

5 And the angel, turning his speech to the women, said: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified;

6 He is not here - He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay,

7 and go quickly, tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you in Galilee; you will see him there. Here, I told you.

8 And coming out of the tomb hastily, they ran with fear and great joy to tell his disciples.

9 And as they were going to tell his disciples, and lo, Jesus met them and said, Rejoice! And they, coming forward, took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.

10 Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.

11 As they were going, some of the guards went into the city and announced to the chief priests all that had happened.

12 And these, having assembled with the elders, and held counsel, gave enough money to the soldiers,

13 And they said, Say that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept.

14 And if the news of this reaches the governor, we will convince him, and we will save you from trouble.

15 They took the money and did as they were taught; and this word has spread among the Jews to this day.

16 And the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had commanded them,

17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.

18 And Jesus drew near and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you all the days to the end of the age. Amen.