The Day of Resurrection
Christ is Risen!
Great and Holy Pascha, April 11, 2004
1st of Vespers/Palm Sunday: Genesis 49:1-2, 8-12 Apostle: Acts 1:1-8 Gospel: St. John 1:1-17
Genesis 49:1, 2, 8-12, especially vs. 10 (RSV): "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the
ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."
This Old Testament passage is one of three readings provided by the Church for the Vespers of Palm Sunday. Its vision of
the Lord as the Anointed ruler of the People of God to Whom "shall be the obedience of the peoples" (vs. 10), makes it a
worthy starting point for a meditation upon the triumphant Person of the Risen Lord Jesus, the King of Glory and the
Vanquisher of Death.
In His trampling down of death by death, the Lord Jesus has already fulfilled many of the words of the Genesis prophecy;
for "He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?" (Gen. 49:9). The Apostle answers:
"He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross" (Phil. 2:8); and "God also
has highly exalted Him" (Phil. 2:9). Recall the icon of the "Harrowing of Hell:" the Victorious Christ stands astride the
gates of Hades, death is bound under His feet, and He raises Adam and Eve from their tombs, bestowing life upon them.
"Who dares rouse Him?" Death itself is appalled.
In the verses of the present reading, we are looking at an extract from a Genesis narrative which describes the final hours of
the Patriarch Jacob - also called Israel (Gen 47:27-50:14). As father of twelve sons whose descendants would become the
ancient nation of Israel, the dying Patriarch calls his sons to him (Gen. 49:1,2). From eldest to youngest, in prophetic
manner, Israel pronounces the destiny of the tribes that will follow from these, his sons. When his prophecy reaches the
fourth son, Judah, it provides a glimpse, five-hundred years in the future, of the first King of Judah, David the Prophet,
whose brothers did praise him, whose hand was on the neck of his enemies, and whose father's sons did in fact "bow down
before" him (Gen 49:8).
However, the Patriarch's prophecy goes further. It describes the end of the age when all nations will bow before the Lion
of Judah, a descendant of King David. This One will be known as the Lamb of God and the Root of David, and He will be
the victorious Lord of all history as well as Divine Ruler. Christ Jesus alone will be worthy to open the seals of the great
scroll to usher in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 5:5-14). The Genesis prophecy is appropriate to Him alone, for no monarch in
all history ever has claimed obedience from the peoples of all the nations of earth, nor shall any until He comes to Whom
"the ruler's staff truly belongs" (Gen. 49:10).
Let us not pass from this aspect of Israel's vision, from the image of Judah's greatest King, and fail to unite it to St.
Matthew's account of the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem. The old Patriarch's words ring in our ears: "binding his foal to
the vine and his ass's colt to the choice vine" (vs.11). The Lord sent two of His disciples to loose these very animals and
bring them to Him fulfilling both these words and those of another Prophet: "Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly,
and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Mt. 21:5 from Zech. 9:9).
Having allowed the ancient People of God to behold completed the dual prophecy of their Forefather Israel and of their
Prophet Zechariah, Christ brought yet other words of the Patriarch to culmination, in a revelation which only the Church
discerns, aided by the Holy Spirit: the Cup of the New Covenant proclaims the Lord's death until He comes again (1 Cor.
11:26). He has washed His garments in wine and "His vesture in the blood of grapes" (Gen. 49:11) for our salvation. He
allows us to share in His Holy Chalice of love which triumphs over death.
Lo, through the Cross is joy come into all the world. Ever blessing the Lord, let us sing His Resurrection; for in that He
endured the Cross for us He hath destroyed death by death.
