A Glimpse of Pascha

The Resurrection of Lazarus, icon, 12th c.     

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

On this day, before us is opened a new sphere—the phase of Great Lent known as Holy WeekTherefore, no matter what we experience, or no matter how little we experience, let us attend these services, let us immerse ourselves in what they have to say to us. We will not try to forcibly squeeze some feelings out of ourselves: it is enough to watch; it is enough to hear. Let the events themselves—for these are events and not just memories—break us in body and soul.

“>Passion Week—which culminates in the most glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, commemorating the Savior’s salvific sufferings, His death, and His Resurrection. This is what the divine services are dedicated to during the coming week. May these holy days awaken in us the desire to reassess our perception of our lives and the train of thoughts that leads us through our earthly existence.

What is this special day? The Holy Church commemorates the Lazarus Saturday

“>resurrection of the righteous Lazarus. This commemoration, bound up with a great miracle, when a dead man whose body had already begun to decompose, and according to the words of Holy Scripture, stank, was resurrected by Jesus Christ, to the great amazement of everyone around Him.

Lazarus was the Savior’s friend. God loved him. And he was resurrected by divine power; that is, by the same power by which, according to God’s unerring words, the whole human race will be resurrected. The resurrection of Lazarus touches not only the eschatological and grand-scale aspects of our existence but also each one of us. We who live in Moscow, or any other ancient city, tread continually upon the dust of billions of people who died long before we were born. They have long decomposed and turned into dust, and at times, it is hard for us to comprehend with our human minds how this dust can be resurrected on the day of the Second and Glorious Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today’s event of Lazarus’s resurrection reminds us that the dead arise, including each one of us. But the resurrection of St. Lazarus, who later became the bishop of Kition on the island of Cyprus, touches on another aspect of our lives—Lazarus was a friend of God; and in Holy Baptism, we all become friends of God. We are granted great power. In the words of the holy fathers, the demon that resides in the human heart is cast out, and from that point on, can only work against a person from outside of his heart. In the words of St. Mark the Ascetic, Baptism itself is perfect and imparts perfection, but it does not make perfect those who do not keep God’s commandments.

A person has a choice so that resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven—which, according to God’s word, lives in the human heart—might be opened to us. If a person is unable to keep Christ’s commandments due to weakness or lack of desire, out of his evil will, then he has a second choice—to endure sorrows, sickness, and other problems that God might send him.

Perhaps ninety percent of those who come to confession talk about their sorrows and sicknesses. They say it’s so hard for them; one has pain in the legs, another suffers from depression, and a third has some other problem. But we forget the Gospel words that we heard today: This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God (Jn. 11:4). And of course, many people have wondered: What is this general resurrection? There have been people who may have mistaken in their explanation or understanding of this great event, the crown of human history—for example Vernadsky.¹ There were people who, through their thoughts on the resurrection and the remembrance of the Savior’s raising of Lazarus, gave many others grounds for rethinking their own lives.

Let’s recall Time to Read (or Reread) DostoevskyThe details of all his characters, their mannerisms, their actions, their thoughts and words, even their names, all paint individual pictures of the human condition in relation to God and the devil—pictures that don’t fade with time, and are applicable in any culture.

“>Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky and his protagonist Raskolnikov, who, because of his flawed thinking, accepted a misguided point of reference and ultimately committed a terrible crime. But after this terrible crime, he did not despair and did not fall into the pit of despondency. Turning his gaze to the Gospel story of the resurrection of Lazarus, he changed his life. In this collective image, Dostoevsky provides an example for many of us who have committed such acts, after which it is very hard to rise from the fall. But we must go forward and strive to recreate our connection with God.

We might ask: “This is probably about righteous people. But what about those who sin?” At times, we don’t even ask ourselves, “How often is this mentioned in Orthodox church services?” Practically every day, we hear the kathisma readings during the evening services, and on feast days, we hear the first Psalm of the Psalter. “Blessed is the man,” We all remember these words. The resurrection is talked about here: Not so are the ungodly; not so: but rather as the chaff which the wind scatters away from the face of the earth Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous (Ps. 1:4–5). What are we talking about regarding this resurrection? The holy fathers explain: The ungodly will not be resurrected unto judgment.. That is, there are people who commit such serious crimes and have no repentance for them whatsoever, all the while keeping up the external appearance of a normal life. When we look at them, we see that they live prosperously, having everything in their possession. Of course, we cannot see into their souls, where something squeals. But these people will not even be called to judgement. Nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous. Other sinners who repented, who perhaps struggled but could not fulfill Christ’s commandments or bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, will not be taken into the habitations that the Lord has prepared for righteous souls.

Let us think about this as we attentively listen to the divine services. In the Psalter are very many psalms that talk about this. We should attentively listen to them and contemplate how our earthly life is not eternal, how we have a choice: either to remain in the dark cave, in the grave (in the Gospel, a grave was referred to as a cave in which the dead of that time in Palestine were interred), to be filled with stench and to stink—or to become participants in divine power, divine might, and be communicants of God’s glory. This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God.

Let us think about this and pray to God that our lives may be lives of light, lives of goodness, lives of grace—and not of the stench that surrounds many people who forget their high calling. “Giving before Thy resurrection an assurance of the General Resurrection”²—this is a glimpse of the Resurrection, a glimpse of Pascha, which will come very soon. May it come and abide with us on the day of Lazarus Saturday, follow us through the days of Holy Week, and in full measure triumph in our souls on the feast of feasts, the Bright Resurrection of Christ. Amen.