Christos Anesti Nea Parea!

Holy Thursday:

The first of the twelve gospels:

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you”

Jesus is talking to the apostles about His crucifixion and informing them about what’s to happen. They are scared, confused, and filled with sorrow. Jesus is intentionally leaving them knowing that they are all going to struggle - Jesus included. In this verse however, Jesus gives this beautiful foretelling: that it’s for the Apostles' own good that He goes away. Once He goes away, that is when He will be crucified, and ultimately resurrected, saving us all.

I can’t imagine how the Apostles must have felt at this moment. However, this verse gives a profound promise: in those moments when we feel far from the Father, lonely, and wondering if He’s abandoned us, He may in fact be meeting us in our lowly state for our own good. Sometimes, our lowly state is what needs to happen in order for God’s will to happen. His will for us is always so much more glorious than we could ever imagine. It’s no wonder it feels lonely and scary given we haven’t experienced this type of joy before. When all things are working through Christ, our low moments, just like the Apostles, become the rock in which our Godly lives are built.

Good Friday

“Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross. He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns. He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery”

How powerful is this?

The One who sits on the highest of thrones became the lowest of the low. The One who raised the dead was subject to death. The One who healed wounds was wounded. The One who stretched out His hands and  created the world was the same One whose hands were nailed to the Cross.

God came into the world and completely disrupted everything that was once known. A King, and yet He didn’t have an earthly kingdom. The Physician, yet people doubted His healing miracles. The Friend, yet His own friends betrayed Him. No one expected the Christ to come into the world through humility, live a modest life, and ultimately die a brutal death. This is how big His love is for us. He did not succumb to the world’s expectations of our extravagant image of a king because He was not of this world. He came into the world to redeem us from the world, and the only way He could redeem us from the world was to be bound by the world. This is how great His love is for us. That He took everything - every sin He knew we would commit, every fault, danger, and sorrow, and He gave it all up on the Cross. Him dying on the Cross breaks us free from the world, knowing that our earthly lives are how we can glorify Him by bringing His peace into the world - not us creating peace out of the world. Every thorn pressed into His head, every person who mocked Him, every whip that scarred Him - it was outweighed by His undying love for us. Even as He died on the Cross.

Pascha

From the Gospel according to Saint John on Pascha

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything that was made. In Him was life, and life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it"

Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. The Past, Present, and Future. He is the whole world yet not of this world. He rules all kingdoms yet He was slain under the rule of earthly kings. He gives light to all those who call after Him, yet He was left alone during His darkest hour.

He made all things, gave life to all things, and in doing so, gave light to all things. He was in the beginning with God - all things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing exists. He was perfect but was killed by imperfect humans. He was and is the light, but He was guarded away into the darkness of the tomb.

Who else can trample death by His own death? Who else can be confined in a tomb and break down the walls of hell? Who else can withstand being beaten, spat upon, and tortured, yet still have the strength to lift people from their graves? Our Lord - who gives sight to the blind man, raises the dead, heals the sick, becomes a Friend to the loner, and casts out demons. Our Lord, who came for the sole purpose of mankind being redeemed. That’s the kind of powerful love that God has for us!

Through His death, we break free from our own graves. Through His death, we are not defined by our pasts. Through His death, we each become new. Through His death, we get life. Through His death, we get light.

Whatever our past was, whatever our future will be, Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. The first and the last. He is risen from the dead, and Christ being risen means that the life He is calling us into is always available to us, whenever we decide to go after Him. Even if we are waiting on the outside of His tomb with fear, He will be on the other side waiting for us; just as He was waiting for the myrrh-bearing women. His death on the Cross is the ultimate triumph - and what do we need to do to reach this triumph? We need to muster up the courage to face His tomb.

When we do, the stone will be rolled away for us, waiting for our arrival.