The Sunday of the resurrection

Christ is risen…

All contradictions came together from the alliance of hostile rulers (Luke 23:12) and the wickedness of the chief priests and leaders of the people (John 19:12) and the frenzy of the forces of darkness (Luke 22:53) and the confusion of the people about their savior (Luke 23:21-23) melted in the divine economy to find itself a servant to His holy death and resurrection.

And so, God’s economy rose and encompassed all that humans do, so that the Day of Resurrection becomes an announcement of the third day, which is the day of God when His glory, power, and authority are revealed after the forces of darkness believed that the first and second days were the fate and end of humanity. Therefore, the Resurrection came to reveal the new day and the new man in Christ.

The first day is the day of the apparent victory of evil, and the second day is the day of the silence of heaven in the eyes of humans (strategically), and the third day is the day of the announcement of the divine economy hidden from humans on the second day and the declaration of the end of the rule of darkness on the first day.

In other words, the first day is the belief of the Jewish leaders and those with them from the Jews and the Romans that the story ends with the crucifixion of the Lord and their certainty that they have rid themselves of Him forever. This is always the belief of the wicked when their efforts succeed against the church or against the children of God (temporarily).

The second day is when the Lord went to hell (the night of Apocalypse) and took all the righteous to open the gates of paradise and the gates of bliss for them. There was great joy for all the souls imprisoned in hell (1 Peter 3:19). But at the same time, all this great divine work was hidden from the eyes of the apostles and the believers on earth, and they did not realize it until the third day after His holy resurrection.

And so the resurrection became our third day that we live every day and every moment, through which we see what the world presents to us on the first day of pain, conspiracies, and death as our salvation path. We experience how the risen One turns our shame into glory (Philippians 3:13) and our despair into joy (Luke 24:17, 21).

The resurrection became our third day through which we realize divine economy on the second day, even if hidden from human eyes, giving us hope to pass through daily depression, confusion, persecution, and distress, thanks to the light of His resurrection that always shines in our hearts (2 Corinthians 4:6-11).

The explanation of the readings

If the readings of the fifty Holy Days all speak of new life, new creation, and the promised land (the dwelling of the Trinity in the new man), then the Resurrection shows us the source of the new life, our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation. Christ is not a created being as the heretic Arius claimed, but rather the firstborn of the new creation, renewing the nature of humanity corrupted by sin through the body He received from the Mother of God. Through His death and resurrection, He made this body the firstfruits of the new creation, and Christ, in His resurrection, became the firstborn among many brethren. Through His holy resurrection, He became the foundation and source of resurrection for every soul in the New Covenant, from the death of sin to the attainment of the first resurrection through the resurrection of Christ.

So the readings for Resurrection Sunday speak of the Risen Son as the firstborn of all creation.

The significance of the church’s selection of prophecies for Easter:

Our holy church has chosen a selection of prophecies from various books of the Old Testament to proclaim to us the blessings of salvation that we have received from the death and glorious resurrection of Christ, and His ascension to heaven in the flesh. Therefore, we find the prophecies of Easter night about these salvific events gathered, which ultimately lead to the salvation of humanity, the renewal of its nature, and the attainment of glory in Christ. Therefore, the prophecies of this night speak of the cross, resurrection, ascension, salvation of the nations, and the birth of the New Testament church.

  1. Therefore, the prophecies of the resurrection begin with the book of Deuteronomy, which refers to the Trinity’s economy for salvation and divine power (Deut 32: 39-43). (“There is no god with me.” This phrase refers to God as a Trinity. (Hilary of Poitiers – On the Trinity – 5-36.37). [God revives all dead. (Aphrahat). [3]
  2. The prophecy of Isaiah speaks of the manifestation of the glory of God through the cross and resurrection, and the glory that the new man received in Christ (Isaiah 60:1-8). The glory of God has shone on earth; and He has shared it with us in glory, elevating our nature to become like His nature. (St. Cyril) This glory surpasses in splendor the glory of even the greatest kings. (St. Ambrose) Isaiah speaks of those who will rise high like clouds, resisting sin and its evil powers, those who cannot be touched by any force as long as their faith elevates them above those powers. (St. Gregory of Nyssa)
  3. The second prophecy from Isaiah also confirms the Trinity’s economy for salvation, the glory of the nations in the New Covenant, and God’s patience in His sufferings, which declared His justice and compassion, as Saint Augustine said (Isaiah 42:5-17):
    “The Son and the Holy Spirit are with the Father, as one God – all working to plan our salvation” (Saint Ambrose).
    “The new spiritual beginning has the right to sing a new song” (Origen).
    “The most deserving to sing this song are the children of the nations, as they have long been in bondage” (St. Ephrem the Syrian).
    “God’s patience is His justice enclosed in His compassion” (Saint Augustine).
    “As He willed, He subjected Himself to the humiliation of torture and even death” (Saint Alexander).
  4. In the third prophecy of Isaiah, the fathers clarify the birth of the New Covenant Church after Christ, who removed the grip of Satan by the power of His death and resurrection (Isaiah 49:13-23).
    “Zion for Christians, which is Jerusalem, serves as an example of various things: the place of Christ’s sufferings, the gathering place of believers, the angelic covenant, and the heavenly city” (St. Jerome).
    “The blood of Christ has washed away all sins for all peoples” (St. Ambrose).
    “And He made the Church pure and white, so that all who live in it may wear a shining garment” (St. Jerome).
    “Christ has removed Satan’s grip on humanity with His mighty power” (St. Cyril).
  5. The prophecy of Jeremiah tells how our sorrow turns into joy through the redemption of Christ, glory be to Him (Jeremiah 31:23-28). We purify ourselves with our tears for our sins. In response to that sorrow, God promises us mercy. Jesus was saddened not by a sin He committed, for He was without sin, but He was saddened by the sins we carry, even unto death, so that we may turn our sorrow into joy. (St. Ambrose)
  6. Habakkuk’s prophecy speaks of how the Lord quenched hell with His cross and filled the Church with praise (Hab 3:2-19). The glory of the Lord refers to His glorious ascension; this fills the Church with praise] (St. Augustine). Christ is symbolically represented as an ox, the son of the cross, of which the prophet said that the rays of light emanate from it. The cross of Christ sent forth a burning flame of fire, the one that extinguished the flames of hell] (St. Jerome). God’s rising to measure the earth is a sign of Christ’s crucifixion. The cracking of the mountains and hills on which the altars of idols were erected is a symbol of Christ’s victory over the demons] (THEODORET) [8]
  7. In his commentary on this prophecy, St. Cyril of Jerusalem explained the purpose of the Messiah’s mission to save all, Jews and Gentiles, in Christ Jesus (Zech 2:10-13). “God promised to send the Messiah to Jews and Gentiles; and because His word is true, He has fulfilled it in Christ.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)[9]

The psalm of Matins

The Psalm speaks of mankind’s sleep and drunkenness with sin in the Old Testament, and the Lord’s likeness to us in all things except sin, so He said that “Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.” (Psalms 78:65)

He was not asleep like mankind, nor did the wine of sin approach Him, but He took the likeness of the body of sin (Ro 8: 3), and rose in this body as the firstfruits of all mankind, and with this resurrection He built His holy church (His body), i.e. all those who believe in Him from all nations, and established them forever (Ps 57:60), and “built like a unicorn His holy place and established it on the earth forever.” (Ps 57:60).

The psalm also refers to the power of the resurrection, about which the late Abouna Bishoy Kamel said:

[It is an intrinsic power in the Lord Jesus, who cannot be overcome by death.

It is a power in the lives of those who died with Christ.

The women thought that the large stone would be an obstacle to the resurrection, but no power in the world can stand in front of the power of the resurrection.

The resurrection is a force in the life of every repentant person who returns to God.

The resurrection renewed the faith of Thomas, who had fallen into doubt, and the resurrection renewed the love of Peter, who had denied, cursed and insulted.”[10]

The gospel of Matins

In the Gospel of Matins, he speaks about the fate of the Old Testament man and his natural end “they came to the tomb” and about the New Testament man and his holy resurrection “He is risen, He is not here” Not only Him, but all those in the graves of sin have been granted eternal life, and this is the good news for all who mourn: “She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.” (Mark 16: 10).

Pauline Epistle

Paul speaks of Christ as the firstfruits and the basis of all resurrection in the New Testament: “But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” (1Cor 15:23).

Resurrection is the foundation of faith, life, and ministry. If there is no resurrection of the dead, faith is futile and life is futile: ” Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”(1Cor 15:32). Ministry is meaningless because it is not based on the act of resurrection.

Therefore, Paul emphasizes that the new Adam is the source of life: ” And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.” (1Cor 15:45-48).

Catholic Epistle

It speaks of the vicarious Son who opened the way to the Father through His death and resurrection, ” For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,” (1 Pet 3:18).

And about the New Testament baptism, the Ark of Salvation, in which we receive the act of Christ’s death and resurrection “There is also an antitype which now saves us–baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1 Pet 3:21).

Praxis

It talks about how Christ’s death is in the Father’s economy for the salvation of mankind and that death and corruption cannot hold Him, but He is the One who will give life and nullify corruption for everyone who believes in Him, “whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” (Acts 2:23, 24) “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” (Acts 2:27).

The Liturgy psalm

It declares that this day, the day of salvation, is the one that all mankind awaits and longs for: “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, And He has given us light; Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.). Hallelujah” (Ps 118:24, 25, 27).

The liturgy gospel

It declares that the resurrection is the subject of the whole book and the goal of the prophecies: “and he saw and believed.For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” (John 20:8,9).

His resurrection is also the door to our ascension in Him and in Him to the Father, and man in Christ receives permanent communion with the Father: ” go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God. ” (John 20:17).

[Note on today’s rite: The history of the resurrection drama: Abouna Yassa Abdul-Masih says: closing the temple door and what the psalmist says, to which the priests inside respond, “Christ is risen. Open, O kings, your doors” is not found in the ancient books, nor is turning off the lights.”[11]

The summary of the explanation

(The Firstborn of All Creation)

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