“he is not God of the dead, but of the living”
When challenged by the Sadducees about the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus points to the past. “Moses called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, all of whom were long dead by that time. The message is that these patriarchs were physically dead but not spiritually dead. They lived on in God because of their immortal souls. They only awaited the resurrection of their bodies.”[i] There are two truths about our faith that Jesus is pointing out and both attest that God is the God of the living. Our soul is immortal and our body will be resurrected. Each person is made of both a body and a soul and death has hold on neither. What a merciful God that neither our body or soul will die nor corrupt but will live.
The Resurrection of the Body shows not only the power of God, who is the God of the living, not the dead, but also shows His will for each person, body and soul. “Moses’ fathers in faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are living persons for God (‘for all live for him,’ Lk 20:38) although according to human criteria they should be numbered among the dead. Correctly rereading Scripture, and particularly God’s words just quoted, means knowing and welcoming with faith the power of the Giver of life, who is not bound by the law of death, which rules over man’s earthly history.”[ii] If we see our body and soul just in the context of “earthly history” we see only death. We could begin to reject the truth that our soul is immortal; we could also reject the truth of the resurrection of our body.
VIDEO – “Xristos Anesti” (Christ is Risen)
The lyrics are Greek: Xristos anesti/ek nekron,/thanato thanaton patisas,/ke tis en tis mnimasin zoin xarisamenos English: Christ is risen/from the dead,/having beaten Death by [his own] death/and having given the gift of life to those in the graves.
The icon of Christ in the video is one of the oldest of the Orthodox Church dating back to the 6th century AD, and it depicts Christ Pantokrator. His left eye is the eye of judgment that brings fear to the angels, and reminds us of the judgment day that is to come. His right eye is the eye of mercy and his love for man. The icon is in the monastery of Sinai and was a gift to the monastery from Emperor Justinian. When the women come to the tomb the Angel says, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”[iii] Death rules over man’s earthly history, but we are not just a part of earthly history. For those who just see “earthly history” who just see “this world” the focus can easily become death and a culture of death.
What are some examples of how modern society seeks the “living among the dead” seeks life in things that are truly dead? In what ways are we shackled, do we keep ourselves in “dead”?
Pope John Paul II has called our society a “culture of death”, what are some examples of the “culture of death? How do we see a “culture of life”, where are signs of the Resurrection in our life? The most obvious of these signs are the seasons, which the author of life has written into every year, every living being. “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”[iv]
In what ways have we fallen, do we struggle and need to be lifted up, resurrected? “To resurrect means to lift up something that has fallen down, to bring again to life that which was dead, to restore to life that which has succumbed to dust. The Church has always taught that the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our Faith.”[v]
[i] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God; Vol 5., 75.1
[ii] Pope John Paul II, General Audience of November 18, 1981; 65.3
[iii] Luke 24:5
[iv] Martin Luther
[v] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God; Vol 5., 75.2