Sun. May 15, 2005 (Tone 2)
Christ is Risen!
The Myrrhbearers, Joseph & Nicodemos
15th Vigil of Pascha: Song of Three 1-22 Apostle: Acts 6:1-7 Gospel: St. Mark 15:43-16:8
St. Mark 15:43-16:8, especially vs. 6: "...You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified. He is
risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him." In the burial service, St. John of Damascus prompts us to ask,
"What earthly sweetness remaineth unmixed with grief? What glory standeth immutable on earth?" He answers, "All
things are but feeble shadows, all things are most deluding dreams: yet one moment only, and Death shall supplant them
all." Death, our common lot, is the great question thrown against all human meaning. Orthodox Christians know the
message of the Angel: "He is risen! He is not here." Human sin inverts the good order of God so that mankind calls "evil
good and good evil" (Is. 5:20); but God became man, reversed the evil of death by rising from the dead, and we are
endowed with life. The Gospel account for the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers rings out in tribute to the Lord Who trampled
down death, that tyrant of all. The Almighty lifts up the feeble. The true Master brings Life, applies the improbable
remedy. Listen to Him: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" (Mt. 7:11). In leading death captive, God manifests His
ineffable goodness toward all mankind, and in a multitude of ways:
The goodness of God moved Joseph, a member of the Council that had brought about the Lord's death-sentence, to ask for
the 'privilege' of burying the Lord's mangled body (vs. 15:43).
Though the disciples of the Lord Jesus were scattered and cowering, His women followers, filled with godly courage and
devotion, came to anoint His body for burial (vs. 16:1).
God sent an angel to roll away a stone from the Sepulcher, because the Myrrhbearers were not able to do so (vs. 3).
By the Lord's rising from the dead and leaving the tomb empty, God created circumstances which prepared the peoples of
earth to hear the Resurrection Message (vs. 4).
God provided a radiant angel to tell the women the news of the Lord's Resurrection, a fact that human understanding could
not imagine, expect, invent, or explain (vs. 5).
When the angel declared the good news, he did so in specific words linking the wonder of Resurrection to human history:
"You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified" (vs. 6).
In a cultural and social setting in which women were not allowed to testify, God selected women as the first to learn and
proclaim the incalculable Good News (vs. 6).
Peter, who in fear had denied knowing Jesus, was personally named by the angel revealing the great merciful love of God
and the assurance of His forgiveness (vs. 7).
The disciples, who had known the goodness of God Incarnate, were directed to go to a certain place where they would
once again taste and see how truly good the Lord is (vs. 7).
Galilee, where the Good News of the Kingdom of God first was preached and received, was once more made the first
region to hear the proclamation of God's Great Mercy (vs. 7).
What Christ our God foretold and guaranteed to the disciples before He suffered, He faithfully fulfilled, thereby keeping
His most true promise (vs. 7).
The initial fear of the women, created by news of awesome and unimaginable proportion, turned their hearts to joy (vs. 8
and Mt. 28:8).
"When Thou didst submit Thyself unto death, O Thou deathless and immortal One, then Thou didst destroy Hell with Thy
Godly power, and when Thou didst raise the dead from beneath the earth, all the powers of heaven did cry aloud unto
Thee, O Christ, Thou Giver of Life, glory to Thee!" (Troparion of the Resurrection: Tone Two)
