Pascha: The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ 2024

Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom; Bright Vestments

In beginning, after “Blessed be the Kingdom . . .” the Paschal Troparion is sung 3 times, once by celebrant and twice by the people.

Ambon Prayer 31 (after the Ambon prayer the artos may be blessed)

Dismissal: “May Christ our true God, risen from the dead, by death trampling death, and granting life to those in the tombs . . .”

After dismissal: Priest says “Christ is risen” (with response) 3x. The Paschal Troparion is sung once by the priest and twice by the faithful (DL 170)

Title

The Historian and the Theologian

Outline

We have two contributions to Pascha

The first is that of Acts

It presents Jesus, whom we later realize is the king, for he will restore the Kingdom to Israel. What is clear is that after his death “he presented himself alive by many proofs” to his chosen apostles. The author is saying that the resurrection was objective. And his teaching on the Kingdom of God was constitutive of the community. However, they are not to start on their mission of witness until they are not only baptized with water but also with the Holy Spirit. They already have the gifts of the Spirit to live the life of the kingdom, but they do not have the gifts for world witness until that baptism of the Spirit comes upon them. The question is whether the resurrection means that the fulness of the kingdom is going to happen soon. Jesus says that this is none of their business; it is the Father’s business. They are to be a kingdom community set on world witness. And so it works out in Acts.

The second is that of John

Here we are in the world of theology and it is chanted, for this is not prose. We have the Word or Reason or Logos who is God and always was God and the creator of all.

The world apparently became dark, for he is the dark that shines in the darkness and the life that is the light of humans. This is the basis of the Nicene creed.

Down through the ages he was enlightening human beings. He was even in the world the made. But he was not recognized, not even by his own people and own home. Here we read the sad history of the Hebrew prophets. Yet there were some who received him, always there was a remnant, and they were indeed children of God, born of God (in the midst of Israel).

Finally, the Word not only is, but becomes flesh - a shocking statement in John’s world. And there was a glory to him, an honor status, that of a Son with the Father. But later in John we learn that this one’s glorification includes crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. There in his fulness human beings receive grace. The Torah came through Moses to Israel, but the very grace of God, his covenant faithfulness and truth (hesed we emeth) came through Jesus, including his death and resurrection.

What does this tell us about Pascha?

Brothers and Sisters, we do not understand Pascha until we grasp who Jesus is. Only then will our jaws drop when we hear that the Word became flesh and we later hear that his glorification included death and resurrection, that he was the lamb of God, the Pascha, that takes away the sins of the world.

We will also not understand Pascha until we grasp that the events took place in space and time and the exalted Lord of the resurrection has shown himself truly a human being through many proofs. And he left a family led by apostles here to witness to him. He did that because he wanted his good news spread throughout the world. He would empower us through his Spirit to do this. This is where history is going as it heads towards an encounter with the risen Lord, as it heads towards the establishment of the kingdom.

The issue for us is not whether we can figure out when the end will come, but whether the end will find us knowing whom we serve and on the mission on which he sent us when that king comes.