Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Pascha! The mere sound of that word ought to fill us with excitement, for Christ Jesus has Risen! He is alive! He has destroyed death, our ultimate enemy! He has infused us with His life, by making us partakers of His Divine Nature!

Alas! We continue to experience the ravages of death and disease in our earthly existence. We don't seem to feel as though we experience any apparent benefit of the destruction of death. We feel pain, we get sick, we die slowly or quickly, but we feel it. We don't often think about the other side of death.

Christ is Risen! In Greek it is Christos Anesti! Christ has passed through death, experiencing every bitter moment of the separation of His Holy and Immaculate Body from His Human Soul. He experienced this as True God and True Man. His Body lay in the tomb, badly beaten, drained of His life, (for Jews the life was in the blood). No hope seemed to be available for those who loved Him. The first of His followers to arrive at His tomb on Sunday had their minds go immediately to the notion that His body had been stolen. They must have been in extreme shock when they saw Him alive! They didn't even recognize Him!

Christ is Risen! He Lives! And those who partake in His life will also live! But for now, we can only celebrate Christ's victory over death, and anticipate our share in that! For those who begin to experience the fruits of Deification, they begin to participate in the Victory. But when this happens, it is a cause for humility, because the Victory is Christ's Victory.

Christ is Risen! The tomb is empty! He is not there! He lives, never to die again! He has been Glorified, and is not limited by time or space! He shares His life with all who open the door to Him regardless of where or when. Eternity and time are united in His praise! Rejoice, for Christ is Risen!