"By Raising Lazarus From the Dead Before Your Passion..."

 These words form the Troparion for both the Liturgy of Lazarus Saturday and also for Palm Sunday, the Lord’s Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem.  And so we find the week of our Lord’s Passion beginning with as well as ending with resurrection!

Liturgical texts describe the feasts of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday as “the beginning of the Cross.”  And so it is important for us to understand this joint Feast as it relates to Holy Week.  The words that follow on from the title of this piece say, You confirmed the universal Resurrection, O Christ our God.  As difficult as we find the darkness of Holy Week, the fact remains that the week begins filled with Light, and ends with the most brilliant Light of all time!  The Light of the Resurrection has the ability to dispel every darkness.

On Lazarus Saturday we find something that is peculiar in Orthodox worship.  Saturdays throughout the year are reserved for the commemoration of the departed.  But on this day, the focal point of “the departed” returns!  And so the nature of Saturday’s Divine Liturgy is not on the departed but rather it itself is Resurrectional!  The joy that permeates this Liturgy focuses us beyond the restoration of life to the Lord’s friend.  Jesus shows His authority over death by raising Lazarus.  Those who were witnesses could not deny what had happened before their very eyes.  But there was no frame of reference for that same crowd to project this authority to apply to the Lord’s own life.  We know that is coming, and so we see in Lazarus Saturday the Lord’s ultimate victory not just for Lazarus, not even ‘only’ for Himself, but as the Troparion says, for the universal resurrection—a resurrection of every soul that ever lived, a resurrection that leads to ultimate judgment and the separation of the sheep from the goats.

With Lazarus’ resurrection, death itself and Hades in particular begin to fear their own end.  The final ‘duel’ between Life and death is before us, and in that duel we find the meaning of Pascha. 

One week from Lazarus Saturday, as we stand and sing the hymns of Holy Saturday, we find the first announcements of our Lord’s own Resurrection.  The Stichera on Lord I Call resound with the words, Today Hell cries out groaning…. to begin the Vesperal Liturgy.  And the Holy Saturday Liturgy proceeds with additional announcements of what lay ahead, Arise, O God, judge the earth, for to You belong all the nations.  We stand in prayer as with one voice as we emulate the awe-filled angels of Heaven and sing, Let all mortal flesh keep silent, and in fear and trembling stand, pondering nothing earthly minded, for the King of kings and the Lord of lords comes to be slain, to give Himself as food to the faithful.  We produce in our own minds images of these angels standing before the Cross, marveling how it is that God in the flesh is giving His body over to death!  And in response, we find ourselves in tears standing beside and with these same angels.

Saturday’s raising of Lazarus begins our walk with our Lord to Gethsemane, to the Sanhedrin, to Pilate, to Golgotha, and to the tomb.  May all of our walks in the coming week find us seeking only our Lord’s will, and may He find us to be worthy of seeking to be witnesses of all that He comes to Jerusalem to endure for our salvation.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

We Sold Out

 In today’s Gospel, our Lord gets very matter-of-fact with His Apostles.  St. Mark records that they were amazed.  At this point of the Lord’s ministry, after witnessing so many healings, raisings from the dead, expulsions of demons, what is left that could amaze them?  But even more to the point, St. Mark records not only their perplexity, but he says they were afraid.  When you find yourself standing beside the One Who worked all these miraculous deeds, what could bring you fear?

To understand, perhaps we should again go backward in the scripture a few verses to where we find our Lord in His encounter with the rich young ruler.  What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?  We can imagine that the Apostles had pondered this same question.  In our Lord’s answer, He leads the man to the place where He points to that which has anchored him tightly to this earth, so tightly that consideration of the heavenly isn’t possible.  Sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then take up the cross and follow Me.

When the young man leaves the Lord troubled by His words, the Apostles remain confused.  Who then can be saved?  Do we all see their focus on eternal life even at this juncture? 

It is Peter who speaks for the group.  We have left all and followed You.  He is asking, “Are WE to find a place in heaven?

It is in response to this verbal exchange that the Lord again explains to them what lay ahead—His arrest and execution, but also His Resurrection.

One would think at these words from Jesus the Apostles amazement would be multiplied.  But it is the sons of Zebedee who ignore the implications of the Lord’s prophetic view of the next several days and instead ask boldly for their own places within His kingdom.

Jesus admonishes their selfish request gently, explaining that He as God came not to be served, but to serve, and this is “the way” for any who choose to follow where He has led us as His sheep.

Jesus ends this exchange with these words related to His coming as a Servant, stating finally that He came to give His life a ransom for many.

Ransom.  At first encounter, perhaps we find this a strange word for the Lord to use.  But the Word of God uses words that are in every case selected to be proper to teach us about our salvation.  This is no different!

Ransom—noun.  A price paid or demanded for release of a captive.  That’s us, my friends.  We’re held captive.  We’ve “sold out” via our sins and are held in captivity with no hope for release.

Except for One.  There IS One Hope that we have.  Our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel say that He has come to give His life a ransom for many.  We know that “many” includes only one group—those who choose to follow the commandments of our Savior.  To accept baptism.  To partake in His precious Body and Blood.  To serve the least of His brethren.  To give to the poor.  To heal and visit the sick and imprisoned.  To be reflections of our Savior while we remain in this world.  He came into this world to redeem those of us who have "sold out", to save all who seek Him in faith and love.  By His death and Resurrection, He has paid our ransom in His love for us!