THE RESURRECTION
The Resurrection brings humanity its greatest joy because it is the passage from death to
life; from slavery to freedom.
“Unique and holy day, king and lord of days, feast of feasts, solemnity of solemnities…” we sing
during Easter matins. The feast of the Holy Resurrection, Easter, is the greatest of all Christian feasts, and therefore is the heart of the Christian year.
The Church, proclaims to us the beginning of the Gospel according to St. John on this greatest of feasts. This prologue — John 1:1-18, a striking abridgment of the whole Christian message presents to us tan unfathomable mystery: that beyond the Resurrection of the body of Christ; there is the victory of light over darkness. For the verse, “The light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it” (Jn 1: 5), does not mean that the darkness did not accept and receive the light, but rather that the darkness was powerless to overcome and extinguish the light, the light whose triumph we see today and whose glory we behold.
The full realization of all the Resurrection is and what it brings to us cannot but make the heart sing for joy, in triumph and exaltation.
The full significance of the Resurrection is depicted in the icon entitled The Descent into Hades.
We observe the abyss that fallen, human, free will has opened. Having separated humans from God, the abyss has now been bridged; the death of the Savior has set us free.
In the center of the icon is the Resurrected Christ stands victorious on the broken gates of Hades. The expression “gates of Hades” is a symbol of the mastery of evil, of death and of slavery. When Christ breaks the gates of Hades, he vanquishes all of these evils. Through his
humiliation and death, Christ raised all creation to participation in Divine Life. Bolts, broken chains and keys are scattered about to signify the freeing of those held captive and the breaking of death’s hold over us. By Christ’s descent, Hades is destroyed and its gates trampled.
Having broken the bonds of death’s power, Christ is seen raising Adam and Eve from the grave. In freeing our first parents, Christ also frees those who put their faith in his coming.
In the Resurrection Homily of St. John Chrysostom we read:
“Where is your sting, 0 Death!
Where is your victory, 0 Hades!
Christ is risen and you are abolished.
Christ is risen and the demons are cast down.
Christ is risen and life is set free.
Christ is risen and the tombs are
emptied of the dead.”
In the background there is a triple circle, symbol of the cosmos; it is bathed in quiet light. This light emanates from Christ, and from him it spreads over the rocky landscape and overflows into the whole of creation. The risen Christ radiates the presence of God. The icon says that the Resurrection is the restoration and transfiguration of humankind and the whole creation.
Reprinted with permission from Awakening Our Treasures; published at the Sower, Stamford, Ct.
