A Yesterday the things of the administration [of the economy], today the things of authority; yesterday the things of weakness, today the things of power; yesterday the works of human nature, today the things of divinity are shown. Yesterday He was slapped, today by the lightning flash of His divinity He smites the dwelling of Hades. Yesterday He was bound, today with indissoluble bonds He binds the tyrant. Yesterday He was condemned, today He grants freedom to the condemned; yesterday the ministers of Pilate mocked Him, today the gatekeepers of Hades, seeing Him, were struck with horror.
But come, hear a more sublime reason for the passion of Christ; hear, and sing praises; hear, and glorify; hear, and preach the great wonders of God: how the law yields place; how grace blossoms forth; how the types pass away; how the shadows depart; how the sun fills the inhabited world; how the Old [Testament] has grown old; how the New is established; how the ancient things have passed away, and how the new things have blossomed.
Two peoples were present in Sion at the time of Christ’s passion: one from the Jews, and one from the nations [Gentiles]; two kings, Pilate and Herod; two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas—so that two paschal feasts might be performed at once: the one indeed ceasing, and that of Christ having its beginning. Two sacrifices were being performed on that very evening; since a double salvation, I say, of the living and of the dead, was being brought about. And the Jewish people were binding a lamb offering it for slaughter, while the people from the nations were binding God in the flesh. The former looked upon the shadow; the latter ran toward the Sun, toward God. The one group, having bound Christ, were sending Him away, while the others from the nations gladly received Him. The one B offered a beast for sacrifice, the others offered a sacrifice of the divine body. The Jews were commemorating the exodus from Egypt, while those from the nations were proclaiming liberation from error.
C And where did these things happen? In Sion, the city of the great King, in which He wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. In the midst of two living beings, Jesus, the Child of God, was known; in the midst of the Father and the Spirit, two living beings—"Life," He says, "from Life," acknowledged as Living—and in the midst of angels and men, born into the light in a manger; and in the midst of two peoples, a cornerstone laid; and in the midst of the law and the prophets, preached together; and in the midst of Moses and Elias, seen upon the mountain; and in the midst of two thieves, God, known to the sensible thief; and in the midst of the present life and the future, seated as the eternal Judge; and in the midst of the living and the dead today, He has wrought a twofold life and salvation.
I say a twofold life again, a twofold generation at once, and regeneration. And hear the works of the twofold birth of Christ, and applaud the miracles. An angel indeed announced to Mary the maternal birth of Christ; an angel likewise announced to Mary Magdalene the fearful regeneration from the tomb. By night Christ is born in Bethlehem; by night, again, D He is reborn in Sion. Swaddling clothes around the...
receive Him at His birth; swaddling clothes are wrapped about Him here as well. At His birth He received myrrh; at His funeral, He receives myrrh and aloes. There, Joseph is called the husband, though he was no husband, of Mary; but here, Joseph of Arimathea is revealed as the undertaker of our life. In Bethlehem, the place was a manger; but in the tomb, too, the place is as a manger. First of all, the shepherds announced the birth of Christ; but the disciples of Christ, the first of all shepherds, announced the regeneration of Christ from the dead. There, the angel called out, "Hail," to the Virgin; and here, Christ, the Angel of great counsel, cried out, "Hail," to the women. In His first birth, Christ entered earthly Jerusalem after forty days, into the temple, and offered as a firstborn a pair of turtledoves to God; but also in His resurrection from the dead, Christ ascended after forty days into the heavenly Jerusalem—from which He was never separated—and into the true Holy of Holies as the incorruptible firstborn from the dead, and He offered to God and the Father, as two spotless turtledoves, our soul and our flesh. Him, too, the God and Father, Ancient of days, received—as a certain Simeon—into His own bosom, as if into His arms, without any circumscription. But if you hear these things as fabulous and not with faith, the unbroken seals of the Lord Christ's tomb—the place of His regeneration—accuse you. For just as Christ was born of a Virgin while the womb-opening bars of her virgin nature were sealed by nature itself, so the regeneration of Christ took place while the seals of the tomb were not opened. But let us hear the sacred Scriptures regarding in what manner, at what time, and by whom Christ, the Life, is placed in the tomb.
B Vespere, inquit, facto, venit homo dives, nomine Joseph. When evening was come, he says, there came a rich man by the name of Joseph. This man, taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked of him the body of Jesus. A mortal went in to a mortal, asking to receive God; he asks for the immortal God. Clay asks clay to receive the Moulder of all; hay asks hay to receive the heavenly fire; a tiny drop, from a tiny drop, receives the abyss. Who has seen this? Who has ever heard it said, that a man bestows on a man the Creator of men? An unrighteous man promises to bestow, contrary to the standard of the law, the Lawgiver Himself. A judge of no judgment, as if it were a judgment of one condemned, permits the Judge of judges to be buried. C When evening was come, he says, there came a rich man by the name of Joseph. Truly rich, since he carried off the entire composite hypostasis of the Lord. Truly rich, because he received from Pilate the twofold substance of Christ; and indeed rich, because he was deemed worthy to carry off the priceless pearl. Truly
A a purse he bore, filled with the treasures of divinity. For how is he not rich, who has acquired the life and salvation of the world? And how is Joseph not rich, having received as a gift Christ, who nourishes all things and rules over all? Vespere facto, when it was already late, for the sun of righteousness had set into Hades. Therefore came a rich man by the name of Joseph from Arimathea, who was a secret disciple for fear of the Jews. And there came also Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus by night. A mystery of mysteries, hidden. Two secret disciples come to hide Jesus in a tomb, teaching the mystery of the hidden God in the flesh in Hades through their own hiding. One surpassed the other in his affection toward Christ. For Nicodemus was magnanimous with the myrrh and aloe; but Joseph is worthy of praise for his boldness and frankness before Pilate. For the latter, having cast away all fear, took courage and entered in to Pilate, asking for the body of Jesus; and having entered, he acted most wisely, that he might obtain his desired goal. Therefore he did not use any boastful or lofty words toward Pilate, lest by inflaming him to anger he should fall short of his request; nor did he say to him: "Give me the body of Jesus, who a short while ago darkened the sun, split the rocks, and shook the earth, and opened the graves, and rent the veil of the temple." He says nothing of the sort to Pilate.
B But what then? A certain piteous request, and one very small to all appearance: "O Judge, I have come to ask of you a request very small." And thus: "Give me the dead for burial; the body of that Jesus Nazarene condemned by you, Jesus the poor, Jesus having no home, Jesus suspended, naked, vile, Jesus the son of the carpenter, Jesus the prisoner, the one under the open sky, the stranger, and in his strangeness unknown, the despised, and above all suspended. Give me this stranger; for what profit to you is the body of this stranger? Give me this stranger; for he came from a far country, that he might save the stranger; for he descended into the dark places to bring back the stranger. Give me this stranger; for he alone is truly a stranger. Give me this stranger, whose country we strangers are ignorant of. Give me this stranger, whose father we strangers are ignorant of. Give me this stranger, whose place and birth, and manner of life we strangers are ignorant of. Give me this stranger, who lived a strange life and existence C as a stranger. Give me this Nazarene stranger, [whose birth and manner of life we strangers are ignorant of. Give me this voluntary stranger], who has not here where to lay his head. Give me this stranger,
who from the manger itself as a stranger fled from Herod. Give me this stranger, who from his very swaddling clothes was a stranger in Egypt, having no city, no village, no house, no lodging, no kinsman; for this stranger is in a foreign land A. Give me, O governor, this one naked upon the tree; I shall cover him who covered the nakedness of my nature. Give me this dead one, who is also God; I shall cover him who covered my iniquities. Give me, O governor, [the] dead one, who buried my sin in the Jordan. I plead for [the] dead one who was wronged by all, sold by a friend, betrayed by a disciple, persecuted by brothers, and struck in the face by a slave. I intercede for [the] dead one, who was condemned B by those whom he freed from servitude, who was given vinegar to drink by those he benefited, who was wounded by those he healed, who was abandoned by the disciples and bereaved even of his mother. I entreat for [the] dead one, O governor, who hangs roofless upon the tree. For there is not present for him a father on earth, no friend, no disciple, no kinsman, no undertaker; but he is the only begotten of the only God, God in the world, and there is no other.
When these things had been spoken by Joseph to Pilate, Pilate ordered that the most holy body of Jesus be given to him. And having come to the place of Golgotha, he took down God in the flesh from the tree, and places him upon the ground: God naked in the flesh, and not a mere man. And he is seen lying below, who drew all things upward; and for a little while the life and breath of all becomes breathless; C and he is seen sightless, he who created those endowed with many eyes; and he lies supine, the resurrection of all; and he who raises the dead dies in the flesh; and for a little while the thunder of the Word of God is silent; and he is lifted up by hands, he who holds the earth in his fist. Tell me then, tell me, O Joseph, you who asked and received, do you know whom you have received? Coming to the cross and taking down Jesus, did you know who it was you carried? If you truly know whom you hold, you have now become rich. But how, I ask, do you perform this most awesome funeral of the divine body of Jesus? Your zeal is praiseworthy; but the temperament of your soul is more praiseworthy. For do you not shudder, D carrying in your hands him whom the cherubim fear? Or with what fear do you uncover the linen from that divine flesh? And how piously you closed his eyes! Do you not shudder as you look upon it, revealing the nature of the flesh of God, who is above nature? For tell me, O Joseph, do you bury the dead one facing the east, he who is the Orient of the orient? And do you with your own fingers, as is fitting for a dead one, close the eyes of Jesus, he who with his immaculate finger opened the eye of the blind man? And do you close the mouth of him who opened the mouth of the man who could not speak? And do you wrap the hands of him who stretched forth withered hands? Or...
A do you bind the feet, as is proper for a dead man, of him who gave the power to walk to feet that could not move? Do you also lift onto a bed him who commanded the paralytic: "Take up your pallet, and walk"? Do you pour out ointments upon the heavenly ointment, who poured out Himself and filled the world with sanctification? Do you dare to wipe dry that side of Jesus, still flowing with blood, that divine body of the God who healed the woman with the issue of blood? And do you wash with water the body of God, who washed all men and gave the gift of purification? And what kind of lamps will you light for the true Light, who enlightens every man? And what kind of funeral songs will you sing to him who is praised without silence by all the heavenly host? And do you shed tears as for a dead man for him who wept and resurrected the four-day-dead Lazarus? And do you make lamentations for him who gave joy to all and dissolved the sorrow of Eve?
But I bless your hands, O Joseph, which served and touched the hands and feet of Jesus, the divine body of which was still flowing with blood; B I bless your hands which approached the bleeding side of God, before Thomas, the faithful-unbeliever and praiseworthy inquisitor; I bless your mouth, which was insatiably filled and united with the mouth of Jesus, and filled from there with the Holy Spirit; I bless your eyes, which were placed against the eyes of Jesus, and obtained from there the true Light; I bless your face, which approached the face of God; I bless your shoulders, which bore him who bears all; I bless your head, to which approached Jesus, the head of all; I bless your hands, in which you bore him who bears all things. I bless Joseph and Nicodemus. For they became, before the cherubim, those who lifted and carried God within themselves; they became ministers of God before the six-winged ones, covering the Lord not with wings, but with linen cloths, and honoring him. Him whom the cherubim tremble at, this one Joseph and Nicodemus carry upon their shoulders, and all the orders of the bodiless hosts are struck with awe. For Joseph and Nicodemus have come; therefore, the whole host of the angels of God ran together; and the cherubim arrive, and the seraphim run with them, and the thrones bear him together with them, and the six-winged ones cover him, D and the many-eyed ones shudder, seeing Jesus in the flesh in their sightless state, and the powers cover him, and the principalities sing, and the orders shudder, and all the armies of the heavenly ranks are struck with awe, and being amazed, they doubt among themselves, and say: "What is this terrible word, and fear, and trembling, and manner? What is this great, and paradoxical, and incomprehensible spectacle? He who to us in heaven, as God, is naked and invisible, on earth to mortals is naked and easy to behold."
A Whom the cherubim attend with trembling, Joseph and Nicodemus bury without fear. When did He descend, who did not leave the things above? How did He go forth, who is within? How did He come upon the earth, who fills all things? How did He depart, escaping the notice of all? He who is above with the Father as God, lacking nothing, is below with His mother as a mortal, truly lacking nothing. He who to us was never revealed—how does He, as man, appear simultaneously to humans as the God who loves mankind? How was the invisible seen? How was the immaterial embodied? How did the impassible suffer? How did the Judge stand before a tribunal? How did Life taste of death? How is He contained in a tomb, who cannot be contained? How does He inhabit the sepulcher, who never left the Father's bosom? How does He enter the door of a cave, He who opened the doors of paradise, and did not burst the doors of the Virgin, but shattered the gates of hell? He who did not open the doors for Thomas, but opened the doors of the kingdom for men, while keeping the doors of the tomb and the seals unopened? B And how is He reckoned among the dead, who among the dead is free? How does the light that knows no evening arrive in the darkness and shadow of death? Whither does He go, and whither does He arrive, He who could not be overcome by death? What is this reason, what is the manner, what is the counsel of His descent into hell? Perhaps He descends to bring up Adam, the condemned one, our fellow servant. Verily, He goes to seek the first-formed man like a lost sheep. He surely wishes to visit those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death; surely the God and Son of Eve goes to release the captive Adam and his fellow-captive Eve from their pains [whence He has also been revealed as her Son].
But let us descend together, let us dance together, let us hasten, let us leap together, let us escort Him, let us hymn Him, let us make speed, beholding the covenants of God with men, and the liberation of the condemned wrought by the benevolent Master. For He who is by nature a lover of mankind goes forth to lead out those who have been bound since the ages, with great strength and power, those dwelling in sepulchers, whom bitter and insatiable death swallowed tyrannically, having exercised tyranny, and having snatched this spoil from God, and having at once gathered them together, [He] desires to number those he has brought into freedom with the celestial inhabitants. There is Adam the first-formed, bound, and lower than all the lowest condemned. There is Abel the first to die, and the first righteous man, shepherd of the shepherd Christ, a figure of the unjust slaughter. There is Noah, the type of Christ, the builder of the great ark of the Church of God: which preserved all the bestial nations from the impiety of the flood through the dove, the Holy Spirit, and cast the gloomy raven out from it. There is Abraham, the father of Christ, the sacrificer; he who offered to God a happy sacrifice, with a sword yet without a sword, a mortal sacrifice yet without death. There is Isaac below, bound, he who was of old the bound [type] of Christ... C ...tyrant having exercised tyranny, was despoiled by God as a bane.
Abraham to represent the image of Christ. There is Jacob below, wasted with grief in the underworld, he who was above wasted with grief on account of Joseph. There is Joseph, the prisoner, who in Egypt was a prisoner and lord in the dungeon in the type of Christ. There is Moses below in places of darkness, he who was once above in the chest in a place of darkness. There is Daniel in the pit of the underworld, he who was once above in the pit of the lions. There is Jeremiah, as if in a pit of mire, in the pit of the underworld and of the corruption of death. There is Jonah, lying in the world-containing whale—that is, in the underworld—in the type of Christ, the eternal Jonah, who lives unto the age and unto the ages of ages [and unto the age]. And furthermore, there is David, the forefather of God, from whom [comes] Christ according to the flesh. But why do I speak of David, and Jonah, and Solomon? There too is the great John himself, greater than all the prophets, as if in a dark womb, preaching Christ to all those in the underworld; the twofold forerunner, and herald of the living and the dead; he who was transferred from the prison of Herod to the public prison of the people of the underworld. B But the righteous and the unrighteous who had been asleep from of old, especially the prophets and all the righteous, kept offering there unceasing prayers to God in a hidden and mystical manner, demanding redemption from that agonizing, gloomy, and dark night, ruled by the enemy, which knew no morning. And one was saying to God: "From the belly of the underworld hear my cry, hear my voice"; and another, "From the depths I have cried out to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice"; and another, "Make your face shine, and we shall be saved"; and another, "You who sit upon the cherubim, manifest yourself"; and another, "Rouse your power, and come to save us"; and another, C "Let your mercies quickly overtake us, O Lord"; and another, "Deliver my soul from the deepest underworld"; and another, "Lord, bring my soul up from the underworld"; and another, "Do not abandon my soul to the underworld"; and another, "Let my life rise from corruption to you, O Lord my God."
Having hearkened to all these, the all-merciful God, Christ, did not judge it just to bestow the manifestation of his own philanthropy only upon those who were in his time or would be after him; but also upon those who, before his coming, were held in the underworld and sat in darkness and the shadow of death. D Therefore, the God-Word visited men who were in the flesh through his own ensouled flesh; but to souls liberated from bodies, he appeared in the underworld through his own divine and immaculate soul, which had departed from his body, but not from his divinity. Therefore, let us hasten in spirit, and let us go into the underworld, that we may see how he there at last overcame the tyrant, who was mighty in strength, with the greatest might; and with the whole people militarily arrayed, the tyrant having exercised tyranny, was despoiled by God as a bane.
A He subdued those immortal ranks of orders without weapons: when he removed from the midst the doors that were without doors, and Christ, the Door, shattered the non-wooden gates with the wood of the cross, and with divine nails crushed and broke the eternal bars; and with the bonds of his divine hands he dissolved the insoluble chains like wax. Likewise, the spear of his divine side pierced the incorporeal heart of the tyrant. There he shattered the strength of the bows, when on the cross, as on a bow, he stretched out the sinews of his divine hands. Wherefore, if in silence you follow Christ, you will soon see where he bound the tyrant; and where he suspended his head; how he razed the dungeon; whither he led out the prisoners, in what manner he trampled the serpent, and where he hung its head; how he set Adam free, and how he raised up Eve, and how he broke down the middle wall, and how he condemned the bitter dragon, and how he set up invincible trophies; where he put death to death, and in what manner he corrupted corruption, and established man in his former dignity. B Yesterday, therefore, in an economic fashion, refusing the legions of angels, he said to Peter: "Cannot I now present more than twelve legions of angels?" Today, as is fitting for God, he descends both bellicosely and like a Lord into the depths of Hades and death; and he takes to the tyrant, through death, not merely twelve legions of the immortal, incorporeal hosts and invisible cohorts, but ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, C of Powers, of Thrones and those without thrones, of the six-winged and the wingless, of the many-eyed and the eyeless heavenly cohorts; for they were ushering in and accompanying and honoring Christ as their own proper Lord and King; not as helpers—away with the thought! For what need has Christ the Almighty of such social forces? But because they owe it, and love to stand always by their own Christ and God, as certain armor-bearing guards, clothed in heavy armor, and splendid, swift, divine scepter-bearers of the royal scepter of the divine rule, anticipating one another at a single nod with the highest alacrity and divine speed; together with the command, they carry out the orders to their effect, and crowned with victory against the ranks of the enemies and the wicked. D For this reason, then, they were descending, hastening in course and concurrence together with God and Lord into the infernal and subterranean regions, and deeper than all the earth are those dark dwellings of the dead from ages past, when he led out in strength those who had been fettered from of old. Therefore, the glorious, light-bearing presence of the Lord, together with the divine people, occupied these dungeon-dwellings and habitations, these gorges and caves of Hades—all-embracing, sunless, and eternal in their darkness—and Gabriel, the Archistrategos, anticipates them all; for he is, as is his custom, to bring the gospel of joy to men and a powerful utterance of the most archangelic and most strategic...
A voice to the opposing powers; and he says: "Lift up the gates, you who are princes among you"; after whom Michael also cries out: "And be lifted up, you eternal gates." Then also the powers say: "Depart, you lawless gatekeepers"; then also the authorities with power: "Be shattered, you unbindable chains"; and another: "Be put to shame, you opposing enemies"; and another: "Be afraid, you lawless tyrants."
And just as, in the presence of some formidable and invincible and omnipotent royal triumphal battle array, a certain horror, and tumult, and treacherous fear befalls the enemies of the unconquerable Master, so truly it happened also to those in Hades on account B of the sudden and paradoxical presence of Christ in the nether regions; suddenly from above, the lightning produced a darkening of the hostile powers of Hades, dimming the sight of their eyes, and they heard voices like thunders, and armies commanding and saying: "Lift up the gates, you who are princes among you." For He does not say "Open," but "Lift them up from their very foundations, uproot them, move them so that they may no longer be shut." "Lift up the gates, you who are princes among you." Not that the Master who is present is so powerless that He could not enter even if the doors were shut, if He wished, but as to fugitive slaves He commands you to lift up the eternal gates, to remove and shatter them. Wherefore He does not command your mobs, but the very ones who are seen as princes C among you, saying: "Lift up the gates, you who are princes among you." Yours, but not of any others. Finally, princes! For even if until now, from the beginning of the age, you ruled evilly over the dead, no longer from now on will you be princes over them, nor over others, nor even over yourselves. For Christ is present, the heavenly gate. "Prepare the way for Him who ascends upon the setting of Hades." His name is Lord, and the Lord's, the Lord's, are the exits of the gates of death. You made the entrances; He has arrived to create the exits. Wherefore do not delay: "Lift up the gates and hasten; lift them up, and do not put it off." But if you think to wait, we command the gates themselves to spring open without a hand, of their own accord. D "And be lifted up, you eternal gates." At once the powers shouted, at once the gates were lifted up, at once the chains were loosened, at once the bolts were broken, at once the bars fell, at once the foundations of the prison were shaken, at once the opposing powers were turned to flight, one pushing the other, and one entangled with another by the feet, and one exhorting the other to flee. They shuddered, they trembled, they were stunned, they were troubled, they were changed, they were confounded, they both stood and stood aghast, they were simultaneously perplexed and
A fell to their knees concealing their faces; another remained prostrate and paralyzed, another lay as one dead, another was gripped by astonishment, another lay there transformed, and another fled further within.
For there, at that time, Christ shattered the heads of the dynasts in that consternation; there they trembled at Him; there they let go of their reins, saying: "Who is this King of glory? Who is this so great one, who performs such miracles as these in this place with such a retinue? Who is this King of glory, who now performs in hell what has never been done in hell? Who is this who leads out from here those who have been asleep since the age began? Who is this who has loosened and dissolved our invincible audacity and power, and who leads out from the dungeon of hell those held in shackles from the beginning of time?" B Against them the powers of the Lord cried out, saying: "Do you wish to know, O wicked tyrants, who this King of glory is? The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, mighty and strong, and invincible in wars. He is that one who expelled and cast you out from the celestial orbs, O miserable and lawless tyrants! He is that one who crushed the heads of your dragons in the waters of the Jordan. He is that one who, through the cross, put you to shame, triumphed over you, and consigned you to death. He is that one who bound you, condemned you to darkness, and thrust you into the abyss. He is that one who sends you into the eternal fire and Gehenna, and destroys you. Therefore, do not delay, nor linger; but hasten, and lead out the prisoners whom until this very time you have evilly consumed. For your empire is now dissolved; your tyranny has now ceased; C your arrogance has been severely repressed; your boasting has reached its end; your strength has been trampled and has perished."
These things the powers of the Lord said to the opposing powers, and at the same time they hastened. And some were demolishing the prison from its very foundations; others were pursuing the opposing powers, who were fleeing from the outer chambers into the inner ones. Others were searching through the hiding places, the castles, and the caves, and they were running about. And others were bringing to the Lord a prisoner from here and another from there; others were binding the tyrant with indissoluble chains; others were releasing those bound since the ages began; and others were giving commands, while others were obeying as quickly as possible. And these indeed were running ahead of the Lord as He entered within, D while others followed, surrounding Him as a King and victorious God.
As these things, therefore, and more than these, were taking place in hell, and all were crying out, in a tumult, and trembling, as the Lord in His advent was about to penetrate the very lowest of the lowest places, Adam, that man, because he was created first before all men, and was formed first,
A and was the first to die, being interior to all others, and held in bondage with much security, heard the sound of the Lord’s feet approaching the captives, and recognized His voice as He walked in the prison. And having turned to all those who were bound with him from the age, he said: "I hear the sound of the feet of someone coming toward us; and if He deigns to come here at all, we are liberated from our bonds. If we see Him present with us at all, we are redeemed from the bonds of hell." While Adam was saying these things and others like them to all those who were condemned with him, the Lord entered unto them, holding the victorious weapon of the cross. B When Adam, the first-formed, saw Him, and in his astonishment beat his breast, he cried out to all and said: "My Lord is with all." And Christ, answering, said to Adam: "And with your spirit." And having grasped his hand, He raises him up, saying: "Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you. I am your God, who for your sake became your son; who for your sake and for those who have sprung from you, now speak and by authority command those who were in bonds: Come forth; and those who were in darkness: Be enlightened; and those who were asleep: Arise. To you I command: Wake up, you who sleep; for I did not make you so that you should be held in hell as a prisoner. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O my workmanship; arise, O my form, and you who were born in my image. C Arise, let us go from here; for you are in me and I in you, one and indivisible persona that we are. For your sake I, your God, became your son; for your sake, I, the Lord, took upon myself your servile form; for your sake, I who am above the heavens came on the earth and under the earth; for your sake, I who am man became as one without help, free among the dead; for your sake, who went forth from a garden, I was delivered to the Jews from a garden, and in a garden I was crucified. Behold the spittle upon my face, which I received for your sake, that I might restore you to that original breathing of life. Behold the blows upon my cheeks, which I endured, that I might reform your corrupted form according to my image. Behold the scourging of my back, which I received, that I might scatter the burden of your sins which was placed upon your back. Behold my hands well-affixed to the wood for your sake, who formerly stretched out your hand to the wood in an evil way. Behold my feet, affixed and pierced with nails in the wood, for the sake of your feet which had run poorly to the wood of disobedience on the sixth day, on which the sentence was passed against you, and your reformation, and the opening of paradise, has been perfected by my labor. D I tasted gall for your sake, that I might heal for you that bitter pleasure of that sweet food. I tasted vinegar, that I might abolish the bitterness of your death and the cup contrary to nature. I received the sponge, that I might blot out
the handwriting of your sin. B I received the reed, that I might subscribe to the freedom for the race of men. I fell asleep on the cross, and my side was pierced with a spear, for your sake, you who fell asleep in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep shall lead you forth from the sleep in Hades; my spear has halted the spear that was turned against you. Therefore arise, let us go hence. The enemy led you out from the land of paradise; I, however, settle you no longer in paradise, but on a heavenly throne. I forbade you the typical tree of life, but behold, I myself, who am the Life, have been joined to you. I appointed the cherubim to guard you in the manner of servants; I cause the cherubim to worship you as is fitting for God. You were hidden from God as naked; but behold, you have hidden God within yourself, naked. You were clothed in the leather garment of shame; but I, being God, have been clothed in the bloody garment of your flesh. Therefore arise, let us go hence, from death to life, from corruption to immortality, from darkness to eternal light. Arise, let us go hence, from pain to gladness, from slavery to freedom, from prison to the heavenly Jerusalem, from bonds to relief, from confinement to the luxury of paradise, from earth to heaven. For I died and rose again for this, that I might rule both the dead and the living. Therefore arise, let us go hence; for my heavenly Father awaits the sheep that was lost. The ninety-nine sheep of the angels await their fellow servant Adam, when he shall rise, and when he shall ascend and return to God. The cherubic throne is prepared; the bearers are ready and set; the bridal chamber is made ready; food is prepared; the eternal tabernacles and mansions are adorned; the treasuries of good things are opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages—those good things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, are awaiting man.
C When the Lord said these things and things like these, Adam, who was joined to Him in Himself, rises with Him; and Eve also rises with him; and many other bodies, which had been sleeping in faith from the ages, rose, proclaiming the Lord’s three-day resurrection, D which let us, the faithful, receive joyfully, and let us see, and let us embrace, dancing with the angels, celebrating the feast with the bodiless spirits, and at the same time glorifying Christ, who raised us from corruption and restored us to eternal life. To whom be glory and dominion with His Father who has no beginning, and with His all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit: now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.