Thursday, April 22, 2004
Christ is Risen!
The Holy Apostle Nathanael
13th of the Paschal Vigil: Isaiah 63:11-64:5 Apostle: Acts 4:23-31 Gospel: St. John 5:24-30
Isaiah 63:11-64:5 LXX, especially vs. 11: "Where is He that brought them up from the sea the
Shepherd of the sheep? Where is He that put His Holy Spirit in them?" The present reading rehearses a group of burning
questions that deeply troubled Isaiah, the great Prophet of God. However, at the same time, it presents to the Orthodox
Christian a joyous prophetic icon of the Resurrection. The Prophet Isaiah asks God how He, Who had "led Moses with His
right hand, and the arm of His glory" (vs. 12), could have allowed His people to fall so low: "where is Thy zeal and Thy
strength? where is the abundance of Thy mercy, and of Thy compassions, that Thou hast withheld Thyself from us?....Why
hast Thou caused us to err, O Lord, from Thy way? and hast hardened our hearts, that we should not fear Thee?" (vss.
15,17).
The opening verses of the passage find Isaiah questioning how God could have abandoned His own People (vss. 63:11-17).
Afterwards, having stated his questions, the Prophet begs the Lord to "return for Thy servants' sake, for the sake of the
tribes of Thine inheritance, that we may inherit a small part of Thy holy mountain" (vss. 63:17-18). Then, as if to remind
the Lord, the Prophet mentions that God is fully able to act as He did of old. If He should choose to "open the heavens"
and come among His people, then "trembling will take hold upon the mountains" (64:1). In the end, Isaiah admits, yes,
"we have sinned; therefore we have erred" (vs. 64:5). Still, he says, we believe that "Thou wilt perform to them that wait
for mercy," for "from of old we have not heard, neither have our eyes seen a God beside Thee" (vs. 64:4).
The Holy Fathers observed that the questions which burned in the heart of Isaiah were fully answered by the coming of
Christ. Listen, for example, to Theodoret of Cyrus: "The prophetic text...is making mention of the event that was the
crossing of the Sea: foreseeing that they [ancient Israel would] be deprived of the divine solicitude...according to the
prediction," that God would "forsake [His] vineyard" (Is. 5:6).
However, says Theodoret, the questions raised should lead the Faithful in Christ to realize that "just as the people, pursued
by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, passed through the sea under the leadership of Moses, in the same way, when the devil and
the demons were waging war, Christ our Master broke the gates of death and passed through them Himself first, but is now
leading our human nature out. Hence," Theodoret continues, "the divine Apostle applies these words to Christ: 'He Who
brought up from the earth the Great Shepherd of the sheep'" (Heb. 13:20). He urges those who are united to Christ to
perceive that Moses was the servant and the type, and that the Lord Jesus is "the true 'shepherd Who gave His life for the
sheep'" (Jn.10:11).
Observe: the questions of Isaiah are answered for the Faithful when we perceive that they form a verbal icon of the
Resurrection: "Where is He that brought them up from the sea [of the grave]?"(vs. 11). Christ Jesus, the Shepherd, is risen
from the dead. "Where is He that put His Holy Spirit in them?" (vs. 11). We answer, "Christ is among us; He is and He
shall be," baptizing His own with water and the Holy Spirit. "He forced the water [of death] to separate from before Him"
(vs. 12). "He [leads His own] through the deep...and they [faint] not" (vs. 13).
In the Pentecostal fire, "the Spirit came down from the Lord" [and guides us] (vs. 14). Thus, the Lord has led His people
and made Himself "a glorious Name" (vs. 14). God Incarnate has revealed His "zeal and strength" (vs. 15). He has shown
us "the abundance of [His] mercy and of [His] compassion, not withholding Himself from us!" (vs. 15)
Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; and let them who hate Him flee from before His face. Today a sacred
Pascha is revealed to us: Pascha which is Christ the Redeemer.