The Paschal Service

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith; receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
^{(Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, read at Paschal Matins)}

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the center of the Christian faith. St. Paul says that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then our preaching and faith are in vain^{(I Cor. 15:14)}. Indeed, without the resurrection there would be no Christian preaching or faith. The disciples of Christ would have remained the broken and hopeless band which the Gospel of John describes as being in hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They went nowhere and preached nothing until they met the risen Christ, the doors being shut ^{(John 20:19)}. Then they touched the wounds of the nails and the spear; they ate and drank with Him. The resurrection became the basis of everything they said and did^{(Acts 2-4)}: “… for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have”^{(Luke 24:39)}.

The resurrection reveals Jesus of Nazareth as not only the expected Messiah of Israel, but as the King and Lord of a new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . .. the holy city, new Jerusalem. And I heard a great voice from the throne saying “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people … He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away^{(Rev. 21:1-4)}.

In His death and resurrection, Christ defeats the last enemy, death, and thereby fulfills the mandate of His Father to subject all things under His feet^{(I Cor. 15:24-26)}.

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing^{(Rev. 5:12)}