Saint Paul shares the reality of Christ’s love. Jesus Christ allowed Himself to be ridiculed, spat upon, and placed upon the Cross. As Orthodox Christians we must always remember what Christ did for us. This is why we prayerfully keep the fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. Often we speak of the Grace of God. We must remember that the Grace of God means His love for us. A respected Orthodox Priest wrote, “Grace is love favoring us when we are not favorable, accepting us when we are not acceptable, loving us when we are not lovable, redeeming us when we are not redeemable.” Jesus is the prototype of humility. His extreme humility was presented to us throughout Holy Week. The church teaches us that Christ humbled Himself, or in other words He poured out His life for us, emptied Himself to fill us with life. Holy Scripture reminds us to live with love and humility. The first days of Holy Week, Jesus warns us of the dangers of pride and ego. St. Paul especially warned Christians of how pride and ego can destroy the church. Christ taught and lived how humility can break the sinful bonds of pride and ego.

The Resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our faith. Without faith in the Resurrection, our faith has no foundation. Great Lent and Holy Week offer the opportunity for us to truly grow spiritually. The message of the Resurrection reminds us that it is not enough to simply follow Jesus. The Resurrection invites us to be united with our Lord and Savior. Man was created in the image and likeness of God. Man and woman were created to be like God and to live in communion with Him. In the Book of Genesis, sin entered human life and brought corruption and death. Death is not a natural thing for man. Jesus Christ conquered death and arose. The communion with God that man had lost was restored by Christ. Man had become a slave to sin. Jesus Christ liberated us from the slavery of sin and from death. We chant the words in the Resurrection Hymn, “bestowing life to those in the tombs.” Those in the ‘tombs’ are the spiritually dead. A person is dead when he or she is separated from God. We can share in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ through the sacrament of Baptism. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:3-5) Bishop Gerasimos of blessed memory wrote, “He raised us up to our original glory near God. Out of love, Christ took all of our sins upon Himself and nailed them upon the Cross.”

The greatest gift God gave us is free will. How are we using our free will? We can cooperate with God, be in communion with Him, or live a life of sin. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and chose to become independent of God. The Resurrection invites us to truly experience salvation through Christ. The Resurrected Christ allows us not only to follow Christ, but to be united with Him. An Orthodox Monk wrote, “We are called to let the blood of Christ flow over our spiritual wounds, to unite ourselves to the sacrificial death of the Savior so that we may be united to His new life.”

Listening to God is not enough. Lighting candles and making prostrations to God is not enough. We have the blessing to personally experience the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many followers of Jesus left Him after He was arrested. A handful remained. St. Joseph of Arimathea took great courage to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. He personally risked his life. He gave no thought to his social position. Joseph gave his own burial to Jesus. He did all this without expecting anything in return. What a beautiful example we have in the person of Joseph of Arimathea. Let us follow his example of love, reverence and care for the Risen Lord.

 Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

Father Jordan