On Pascha

1 The Scripture of the Hebrew Exodus has been read, and the words of the mystery have been explained: how the sheep is sacrificed and how the people are saved. 2 So understand, my dear friends: the mystery of the Pascha is new and old, eternal and temporary, perishable and imperishable, mortal and immortal. 3 It is old in the law, but new in the word; temporary because of the model, eternal because of grace; perishable because of the slaughter of the sheep, imperishable because of the Lord’s life; mortal because of the burial in the earth, immortal because of the resurrection from the dead. 4 The law is old, but the word is new. The model is temporary, but grace is eternal. The sheep is perishable, but the Lord is imperishable, not broken as a lamb, but raised as God. For “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,” yet He was no sheep; and He was like a silent lamb, yet He was no lamb. The model came first, but now the reality has appeared. 5 For in place of the lamb came the Son, in place of the sheep a man, and in the man was Christ, Who encompasses all things. 6 So the slaughter of the sheep, the ceremonial procession of the blood, and the written law all find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. For His sake everything happened under the earlier law, and even more fully in the new word. 7 For the law became word, and the old became new, going out together from Zion and Jerusalem. The commandment became grace, the model reality, the lamb the Son, the sheep a man, and the man God. 8 For He was born as Son, led away as a lamb, slaughtered as a sheep, buried as a man, and He rose from the dead as God, for by nature He is God and man. 9 He is all things: He is law when He judges, word when He teaches, grace when He saves, Father when He fathers, Son when He is born, a sheep when He suffers, a man when He is buried, and God when He rises. 10 This is Jesus the Christ, “to Whom belongs glory forever. Amen.” 11 This is the mystery of the Pascha, as it is written in the law that was read a little while ago. I will go through the words of the Scripture: how God gives His command to Moses in Egypt, when He intends to subject Pharaoh to punishment and to free Israel from punishment through Moses. 12 “Look,” He says, “you shall take a lamb without spot or blemish, and in the evening you shall slaughter it with the Israelites. At night you shall eat it quickly, and you shall not break a bone of it.” 13 “This,” He says, “is what you shall do. In one night you shall eat it, in families and clans, with your belts fastened around your waists and your staffs in your hands. For this is the Lord’s Pascha, an everlasting memorial for the Israelites.” 14 “Take the blood of the sheep and smear the doorways of your houses. Put the sign of the blood on the doorposts of the entrance to turn the angel away. For look, I will strike Egypt, and in one night she will lose her children, among animals and people alike.” 15 Then Moses slaughtered the sheep, and at night he carried out the mystery with the Israelites. He sealed the doors of the houses to guard the people and to turn the angel away. 16 When the sheep is slaughtered, the Pascha is eaten, the mystery is carried out, the people rejoice, and Israel is sealed, then the angel comes to strike Egypt: Egypt, uninitiated into the mystery, with no share in the Pascha, not sealed by the blood, not guarded by the Spirit, hostile and faithless. 17 In one night he struck her and left her childless. For the angel passed by Israel, and when he saw Israel sealed with the blood of the sheep, he went against Egypt. He tamed stubborn Pharaoh with grief, and dressed him in neither a dark robe nor a torn cloak, but in all Egypt, torn apart and mourning for her firstborn. 18 For all Egypt, suffering pain and blows, weeping and beating her breasts, came to Pharaoh in deep mourning, in her soul as well as in her appearance, with her pampered breasts torn as well as the robes she wore. 19 It was a strange sight to see: here people beating their breasts, there people wailing, and in the middle Pharaoh in mourning, sitting on sackcloth and ashes, wrapped in darkness that could be felt, as though it were a mourning cloak, with all Egypt around him like a tunic of grief. 20 For Egypt was wrapped around Pharaoh like a garment of wailing. This was the tunic woven for the tyrant’s body. This was the robe the angel of justice put on hard-hearted Pharaoh: bitter grief, darkness that could be felt, and the loss of children. And the angel fell on her firstborn, for the death of the firstborn was swift and could never be satisfied. 21 It was a strange sight of victory over those who fell dead in a single moment. The defeat of those who lay there became food for death. 22 If you listen, you will be amazed by a strange disaster. For this is what overtook the Egyptians: a long night, darkness that could be felt, death feeling its way, an angel squeezing out life, and Hades swallowing their firstborn. 23 But you have something even stranger and more terrifying to hear. Death that could not be felt hid in darkness that could be felt. The wretched Egyptians felt their way through the darkness, while death searched and felt for the firstborn of the Egyptians at the angel’s command. 24 So if anyone felt the darkness, death led him away. If a firstborn caught hold of a dark body with his hand, with his soul terrified, he let out a pitiful, fearful cry: “Who is this that my right hand is holding? Who is this who terrifies my soul? Who is this dark one wrapped around my whole body? If you are my father, help me; if my mother, have compassion on me; if my brother, speak to me; if my friend, stand by me; if my enemy, let me go, for I am a firstborn.” 25 But before the firstborn fell silent, the long silence seized him and said: “You are my firstborn. I am your fate, the silence of death.” 26 Another firstborn, seeing that the firstborn were being taken, denied who he was, so as not to die a bitter death: “I am not a firstborn; I was the third child born.” But the one who could not be deceived took hold of the firstborn, and he fell on his face in silence. In a single moment the firstborn offspring of the Egyptians perished. Those conceived first, the firstborn, the longed-for and cherished, were dashed to the ground, not only among people but among the animals too. 27 The lowing of cattle mourning for their young could be heard across the fields. The cow with her calf, the mare with her foal, and the other animals that had just given birth and were full of milk mourned in bitter, pitiful grief for their firstborn young. 28 There was wailing and the beating of breasts over the loss of the people, over the firstborn dead. And all Egypt stank with unburied bodies. 29 It was a terrifying sight to see: the Egyptian mothers with their hair let down, the fathers out of their minds, wailing terribly in the Egyptian language: “How wretched we are! In a single moment we have lost our firstborn children.” They beat their breasts and clapped their hands in the dance of the dead. 30 This was the disaster that overtook Egypt, and suddenly it left her childless. But Israel was guarded by the slaughter of the sheep, and was lit up by the blood that was poured out, and the death of the sheep became a protective wall for the people. 31 What a strange mystery, beyond description! The slaughter of the sheep saved Israel, the death of the sheep became the life of the people, and the blood turned the angel away. 32 Tell me, angel, what turned you away? The slaughter of the sheep, or the life of the Lord? The death of the sheep, or the model of the Lord? The blood of the sheep, or the Spirit of the Lord? 33 Clearly, you turned away when you saw the mystery of the Lord revealed in the sheep, the life of the Lord in the slaughter of the sheep, the model of the Lord in the death of the sheep. That is why you did not strike Israel, but left only Egypt childless. 34 What is this strange mystery, that Egypt is struck down and destroyed while Israel is guarded and saved? Listen to the meaning of the mystery. 35 Nothing that is said or done, my dear friends, is without an illustration and a sketch. Everything that happens and is said has its illustration: what is said has an illustration, and what happens has a model that foreshadows it. Just as the model shows what will happen, the illustration explains what is said. 36 No finished work is built without preliminary preparation. Can we not see what is to come through its model? That is why a sketch is made of what is to come, in wax, or clay, or wood, so that the work that will be built, greater in size, stronger in power, beautiful in shape, and rich in craftsmanship, can be seen in a small sketch that will perish. 37 But when the actual work represented by the model is built, the model, which once carried the image of what was to come, is destroyed as useless, because the reality now embodies the image it represented. What was once precious becomes worthless when what is truly precious appears. 38 Each has its own time: the model has its time, the material has its time, and the reality has its time. You make the model of the reality. You want it, because in it you see the image of what is to come. You bring the material to the model. You want the material because of what will be built from it. You finish the work, and you want it alone, you love it alone, for in it alone you see the model, the material, and the reality. 39 So it is with examples that perish, and so it is with things that do not perish; as it is with things on earth, so it is with things in heaven. For the salvation and the truth of the Lord were foreshadowed in the people, and the teachings of the gospel were proclaimed beforehand by the law. 40 So the people became the model, like a sketch, and the law became a written illustration. The gospel became the explanation and fulfillment of the law, and the church became the place where the reality is received. 41 So the model was precious before the reality, and the illustration was wonderful before it was explained. That is, the people were precious before the church came into being, and the law was wonderful before the gospel began to shine. 42 But when the church came into being and the gospel appeared, the model lost its purpose, for its power passed to the reality, and the law was fulfilled, for its power passed to the gospel. The model loses its purpose when the reality takes over the image it represented, and the illustration is completed when its meaning is explained. 43 In the same way the law was fulfilled when the gospel began to shine, the people lost their purpose when the church came into being, and the model was destroyed when the Lord appeared. Today what was once precious has become worthless, now that what is truly precious has appeared. 44 For once the slaughter of the sheep was precious, but now it is worthless because of the life of the Lord. The death of the sheep was precious, but now it is worthless because of the salvation of the Lord. The blood of the sheep was precious, but now it is worthless because of the Spirit of the Lord. The silent lamb was precious, but now it is worthless because of the Son without blemish. The temple below was precious, but now it is worthless because of Christ above. 45 Jerusalem below was precious, but now it is worthless because of the Jerusalem above. The narrow inheritance was precious, but now it is worthless because of the far-reaching grace. For the glory of God is not confined to one place or a small plot of land. His grace has been poured out on all the ends of the world, and there God Almighty has made His home, through Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs glory forever. Amen. 46 You have heard the account of the model and what corresponds to it. Now hear the explanation that confirms the mystery. What is the Pascha? Its name comes from what happened: Pascha, from paschein, “to suffer.” 47 So learn who the suffering person is, and Who shares that person’s suffering, and why the Lord is present on earth: to clothe Himself with suffering humanity and carry humanity to the heights of heaven. “In the beginning God made heaven and earth” and all that is in them through the Word. He formed the human being from the earth and breathed life into him. He set him in the garden in Eden, toward the east, to live there in joy, and gave him this law in His command: “You may eat of every tree in the garden, but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.” 48 But the human being, who was naturally capable of receiving good and evil, like a lump of earth that can receive either kind of seed, accepted the hostile and greedy counselor. He touched the tree, broke the command, and disobeyed God. So he was thrown out into this world as though into a prison for the condemned. 49 He had many children and lived a long time, and because he had eaten from the tree, he died and returned to the earth. He left an inheritance to his children. He left his children an inheritance not of purity but of sexual sin, not of freedom from decay but of decay, not of honor but of dishonor, not of freedom but of slavery, not of a kingdom but of tyranny, not of life but of death, not of salvation but of destruction. 50 The destruction of people on earth was strange and terrifying. For this is what happened to them: they were carried off by sin, the tyrant, and led away into the lands of desire, where they were swamped by pleasures that are never satisfied: by adultery, by sexual sin, by unrestrained indulgence, by lust, by love of money, by murders, by bloodshed, by the tyranny of wickedness, by the tyranny of lawlessness. 51 For a father raised the sword against his son, and a son attacked his father, and the godless person struck the breasts that nursed him. Brother killed brother, stranger wronged stranger, friend murdered friend, and man slaughtered man with a tyrant’s right hand. 52 So everyone on earth became a killer: some murdered people, some murdered brothers, some murdered fathers, and some murdered children. But something even stranger and more terrifying happened. A mother attacked the child she had given birth to, and took hold of those she had fed at her breasts. She buried the fruit of her womb in her belly, and the wretched mother became a terrifying tomb, for she swallowed the child she had carried. 53 I will say no more. Many other strange, even more terrifying and shameless things happened among people: a father went to bed with his child, a son with his mother, a brother with his sister, a male with a male, and “each neighed after his neighbor’s wife.” 54 Sin delighted in all this. Working with death, she went ahead of him into people’s souls and made the bodies of the dead ready as food for him. Sin set her mark on every soul, and those she marked had to die. 55 So all flesh fell under sin, and every body under death. Every soul was driven out of its house of flesh. What had been taken from the earth returned to the earth, and what was given by God was locked up in Hades. The beautiful union of body and soul was undone, and the beautiful body was split apart. 56 For humanity was being torn apart by death. A strange disaster held humanity captive. Humanity was dragged away as a prisoner under the shadows of death, and the image of the Father lay abandoned. This, then, is why the mystery of the Pascha has been fulfilled in the body of the Lord. 57 But first the Lord arranged His own sufferings beforehand in the patriarchs, in the prophets, and among all the people, and set His seal on them through the law and the prophets. For a new and great event is arranged long beforehand, so that people may believe it when it happens, because it was foreshadowed long before. 58 So too the mystery of the Lord, foreshadowed long ago and seen today, is believed now that it has been fulfilled, though people think of it as new. For the mystery of the Lord is old and new: old in the law, new in its grace. But if you look closely at this model, you will recognize Him in its fulfillment. 59 So if you want to see the mystery of the Lord, look at Abel, murdered in the same way, at Isaac, bound in the same way, at Joseph, sold in the same way, at Moses, left exposed in the same way, at David, hunted in the same way, at the prophets, who suffered in the same way for the sake of Christ. 60 Look too at the sheep slaughtered in Egypt: Egypt was struck down, while Israel was saved through the blood. 61 The mystery of the Lord is proclaimed through the prophets too. For Moses says to the people: “You will see your life hanging before your eyes night and day, and you will not believe in your life.” 62 And David said: “Why have the nations raged, and the peoples plotted for nothing? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against His Anointed.” 63 And Jeremiah: “I am like an innocent lamb led away to be sacrificed. They plotted evil against Me and said, ‘Come, let us put wood into His bread and wipe Him out from the land of the living, and His name will be remembered no more.’” 64 And Isaiah: “Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, He does not open His mouth. Who can describe His generation?” 65 Many other things were proclaimed by many prophets about the mystery of the Pascha, which is Christ, “to Whom belongs glory forever. Amen.” 66 He came from heaven to earth for the sake of suffering humanity. He clothed Himself with that very humanity through a virgin’s womb, and came into the world as a man. He took on the sufferings of humanity through His body, which could suffer, and He brought the sufferings of the flesh to an end. By the Spirit that could not die He killed death, the killer of human beings. 67 For He was led away as a lamb and slaughtered as a sheep. He ransomed us from worshiping the world as from the land of Egypt, and set us free from slavery to the devil as from Pharaoh’s control. He sealed our souls with His own Spirit, and the parts of our body with His own blood. 68 This is the One Who clothed death with shame and left the devil in mourning, as Moses did to Pharaoh. This is the One Who struck down lawlessness and left injustice childless, as Moses did to Egypt. This is the One Who rescued us from slavery to freedom, from darkness to light, from death to life, from tyranny to an everlasting kingdom, and made us a new priesthood and a people who belong to Him forever. 69 This is the Pascha of our salvation. This is the One Who endured many things in many people. This is the One Who was murdered in Abel, bound in Isaac, exiled in Jacob, sold in Joseph, left exposed in Moses, slaughtered in the lamb, hunted in David, dishonored in the prophets. 70 This is the One Who became flesh in a virgin, Who was hung on the tree, Who was buried in the earth, Who was raised from the dead, Who was taken up to the heights of heaven. 71 This is the silent Lamb. This is the Lamb that was murdered. This is the One Who was born to Mary, the lovely ewe lamb. This is the One Who was taken from the flock, dragged to the slaughter, sacrificed at evening and buried at night; Who was not broken on the tree, did not decay in the earth, rose from the dead, and raised humanity from the grave below. 72 He has been murdered. And where has He been murdered? In the middle of Jerusalem. By whom? By Israel. Why? Because He had healed their people who could not walk, cleansed those with leprosy, brought their blind to the light, and raised their dead. That is why He suffered. It is written somewhere in the law and the prophets: “They repaid Me evil for good and left My soul childless. They plotted evil against Me and said, ‘Let us bind the Righteous One, for He is a nuisance to us.’” 73 What strange crime have you committed, Israel? You dishonored the One Who honored you. You disgraced the One Who glorified you. You denied the One Who acknowledged you. You disowned the One Who proclaimed you. You killed the One Who gave you life. What have you done, Israel? 74 Or is it not written for you: “You shall not shed innocent blood, so that you do not die an evil death”? “I did kill the Lord,” Israel says. “Why? Because He had to suffer.” You are mistaken, Israel, to use such clever reasoning about the slaughter of the Lord. 75 He had to suffer, but not at your hands. He had to be dishonored, but not at your hands. He had to be judged, but not at your hands. He had to be hung on the cross, but not by your right hand. 76 This is the cry, Israel, that you should have raised to God: “Master, if Your Son had to suffer, and this is Your will, let Him suffer, but not by my hand. Let Him suffer at the hands of foreigners. Let Him be judged by the uncircumcised. Let Him be nailed up by a tyrant’s right hand, but not by my hand.” 77 But you, Israel, did not raise this cry to God. You did not clear yourself before the Master, and His deeds did not move you. 78 You were not moved by a withered hand restored to its body, nor by the eyes of the blind opened by His hand, nor by paralyzed bodies made strong again by His voice. Nor were you moved by the strangest sign of all, a dead man raised from the tomb when he had already been dead four days. 79 You paid no attention to these things. In the evening, for the slaughter of the Lord, you got ready for Him sharp nails and false witnesses, ropes and whips, vinegar and gall, a sword and suffering, as if for a murderous robber. You brought whips against His body and thorns against His head. You bound His beautiful hands, which formed you from the earth. And that beautiful mouth of His, which sustained you with life, you fed with gall. And you killed your Lord at the great feast. 80 And you were celebrating, while He was starving. You drank wine and ate bread, while He had vinegar and gall. Your face was bright, while His showed sadness. You were joyful, while He was in distress. You were singing, while He was being judged. You were giving orders, while He was being nailed up. You were dancing, while He was being buried. You were lying on a soft couch, while He lay in a grave and a coffin. 81 Lawless Israel, why have you committed this strange crime and inflicted strange sufferings on your Lord: your Master, Who formed you, Who made you, Who honored you, Who called you Israel? 82 But you proved not to be Israel, for you did not see God, you did not recognize the Lord. You did not know, Israel, that He is the Firstborn of God, born before the morning star, Who made the light rise, Who made the day bright, Who separated the darkness, Who fixed the first boundary, Who hung the earth, Who subdued the deep, Who stretched out the sky, Who arranged the world, 83 Who fitted the stars in the sky, Who made the great lights shine, Who made the angels in heaven, Who set up the thrones there, Who formed humanity on the earth. He is the One Who chose you and guided you from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs. 84 He is the One Who guided you into Egypt, guarded you, and fed you there. He is the One Who lit your way with a pillar and sheltered you with a cloud, Who parted the Red Sea, led you through and scattered your enemy. 85 This is the One Who gave you manna from heaven, Who gave you water to drink from a rock, Who gave you the law at Horeb, Who gave you an inheritance in the land, Who sent out the prophets to you, Who raised up your kings. 86 This is the One Who came to you, Who healed your suffering people and raised your dead. This is the One you sinned against. This is the One you wronged. This is the One you oppressed. This is the One you killed. This is the One you charged money, demanding from Him the two-drachma tax for His head. 87 Ungrateful Israel, come and argue your case with me about your ingratitude. How much did you value being formed by Him? How much did you value His finding your ancestors? How much did you value your journey down to Egypt and the food you received there through good Joseph? 88 How much did you value the ten plagues? How much did you value the pillar by night, the cloud by day, and the crossing of the Red Sea? How much did you value the manna given from heaven, the water given from the rock, the law given at Horeb, the inheritance of the land, and the gifts you had there? 89 How much did you value the suffering people whom He healed when He came among you? Tell me the value of the withered hand that He restored to its body. 90 Tell me the value of those blind from birth, whom He brought to the light with His voice. Tell me the value of the dead who lay there, whom He raised from the tomb after three or even four days of death. His gifts to you are beyond price. But you paid Him back shamefully with ingratitude, returning to Him evil for good, suffering for joy, and death for life. And for Him you should even have been willing to die. 91 When the king of a nation is captured by enemies, a war is fought for him, a wall is broken down for him, a city is plundered for him, ransom is sent for him, envoys are sent for him, so that he may be recovered and sent home alive, or, if he is dead, buried. 92 But you cast your vote against your Lord. The One Whom the nations worshiped, Whom the uncircumcised marveled at, Whom foreigners glorified, over Whom even Pilate washed his hands, you killed at the great feast. 93 So the feast of Unleavened Bread is bitter to you, as it is written for you: “You shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs.” The nails you sharpened are bitter to you. The tongue you sharpened is bitter to you. The false witnesses you put forward are bitter to you. The ropes you got ready are bitter to you. The whips you braided are bitter to you. Judas, whom you paid, is bitter to you. Herod, whom you followed, is bitter to you. Caiaphas, whom you trusted, is bitter to you. The gall you prepared is bitter to you. The vinegar you produced is bitter to you. The thorns you gathered are bitter to you. The hands you bloodied are bitter to you. You killed your Lord in the middle of Jerusalem. 94 Hear this, all you families of the nations, and see! A strange murder has taken place in the middle of Jerusalem, in the city of the law, in the city of the Hebrews, in the city of the prophets, in the city thought to be just. And who has been murdered? And who is the murderer? I am ashamed to say it, yet I am forced to speak. If the murder had happened at night, or if He had been slaughtered in a lonely place, I could have kept silent. But now, in the middle of the street, in the middle of the city, in broad daylight, with everyone watching, the unjust murder of the Righteous One has taken place. 95 And so He is lifted up on a tree, and a sign is fixed to it to say who has been murdered. Who is He? It is hard to say, and even more frightening to remain silent. But listen and tremble, for the earth trembled because of Him: 96 He Who hung the earth is hanging. He Who fixed the heavens in place has been fixed in place. He Who laid the foundations of everything is laid on a tree. The Master has been insulted. God has been murdered. The King of Israel has been put to death by an Israelite right hand. 97 What a strange murder! What a strange injustice! The Master has been disfigured, His body stripped naked, and He was not even considered worthy of clothing to cover Him. That is why the lights of heaven turned away and the day grew dark to hide the One stripped naked on the tree. The darkness covered the eyes of those people rather than the Lord’s body. 98 For when the people did not tremble, the earth trembled. When the people were not afraid, the heavens were afraid. When the people did not tear their clothes, the angel tore his. When the people did not wail, “the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High spoke.” 99 So, Israel, you did not tremble at the Lord’s presence, so now you tremble under enemy attack. You were not afraid in the Lord’s presence. [Text missing] You did not wail over the Lord, but you wailed over your firstborn. You did not tear your clothes when the Lord was hung on the cross, but you tore them over your own who were killed. You disowned the Lord, and He did not acknowledge you. You did not welcome the Lord, and He did not pity you. You dashed the Lord to the ground, and you were dashed to the ground. And you lie dead, 100 but He rose from the dead and went up to the heights of heaven. The Lord clothed Himself with humanity, suffered for the sake of suffering humanity, was bound for the sake of the prisoner, was judged for the sake of the condemned, and was buried for the sake of the one buried, 101 and He rose from the dead and raised this cry: “Who will take Me to court? Let him face Me. I set the condemned man free. I gave the dead man life. I raise up the one who was buried. 102 Who will speak against Me?” “I,” He says, “am the Christ. I am the One Who destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled Hades, bound the strong one, and carried humanity away to the heights of heaven.” “I,” He says, “am the Christ.” 103 “So come, all you families of humanity, you who are steeped in sins, and receive forgiveness of sins. For I am your forgiveness. I am the Pascha of salvation. I am the Lamb slaughtered for you. I am your ransom. I am your life. I am your resurrection. I am your light. I am your salvation. I am your King. I will lead you up to the heights of heaven. I will show you the Father Who is from all eternity. I will raise you up by My right hand.” 104 This is the One Who made heaven and earth, and formed humanity in the beginning, Who was proclaimed through the law and the prophets, Who became flesh in a virgin, Who was hung on the tree, Who was buried in the earth, Who was raised from the dead and went up to the heights of heaven, Who sits at the right hand of the Father, Who has authority to judge and to save all, through Whom the Father made all that is from the beginning to the end of the ages. 105 This is “the Alpha and the Omega.” This is “the beginning and the end,” a beginning that cannot be told and an end that cannot be grasped. “This is the Christ.” This is the King. This is Jesus. This is the Commander. This is the Lord. This is the One Who rose from the dead. This is the One Who sits at the right hand of the Father. He carries the Father and is carried by the Father. “Glory and power belong to Him forever. Amen.”