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April 18, 2009, Great and Holy Saturday
You and I will die physically; but the Lord Jesus, the God-Man, is free from the
"necessity" of death. Nevertheless, He embraced our common, human experience of death and by
Divine power took death's full curse on Himself purposefully - to redeem us if we choose to
unite to Him.
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Romans 6:3-11 (4/18) Epistle at the Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Great & Holy Saturday
United With Christ: Romans 6:3-11, especially vs. 5: "For if we have been united together in
the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection...."
In first Corinthians, St. Paul affirms the universal truth concerning death - that "...by man came
death...for..in Adam all die..." (1 Cor. 15:21-22). In life and in death we are united to Adam our
forebear. This is the meaning of the Apostle's phrase, "...by man came death" (1 Cor. 15:21). The
curse to return to the dust, to die because of sin (Gen. 3:19), comes upon us all. No matter how
we may understand death - as falling asleep, as the result of sin, as biological necessity, as the
law of nature, or as the curse of Adam - you and I will die physically.
The Lord Jesus, the God-Man and our Savior, is Himself free of this "necessity" of death.
Nevertheless, He chose to die - He elected to step fully into the common, human experience of
death and to take this curse on Himself purposefully - to redeem us. Still, we all continue to die,
and the Church wisely keeps this truth in front of us. During the Funeral Service the cry goes up,
"I weep and I wail when I think upon death....Why have we been given over unto corruption, and
why have we been wedded unto death?" The inescapability of death leads us to appreciate all the
more the glorious proclamation found in today's reading - that "..we also shall be in the likeness
of His resurrection...." (Rom. 6:5). St. Paul says this in another way in the Corinthian passage
quoted earlier: "...by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:21-22).
Remember though - this Good News is conditional. Romans 6:5 says, "...if we have been united
together in the likeness of His death...." In God's plan, you and I must be "united with Christ" to
share in His death and His Resurrection. So, on the eve of celebrating our Lord's Resurrection,
the Church brings us back to the Mystery of Baptism, to a key part of God's plan for uniting us to
Christ in death and resurrection so that we may have a hand in actualizing the power of God in
His death and Resurrection. Pascha is upon us. Do not hesitate to sing, "...As many of you as
have been Baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Alleluia! (Gal. 3:27).
In the original language of Romans 6:5, the phrase "united together" means "to be generated
with." It is another way of speaking about the Mystery of new birth in the Spirit - the reality that
the Lord Jesus explained to Nicodemos (Jn. 3:3-8). We might translate a little freely at this point
and say, 'if we have been regenerated with Christ.' How does this happen in Holy Baptism?
Christ regenerates us when we choose to unite to Him. Our choosing and His regenerating are a
synergistic Mystery, a cooperative action we undertake with God.
Follow the Apostle: because God joined us to Christ in Baptism, we died with Christ. The curse
is removed for those who are Baptized into Christ, although physical death remains. As Christ
was raised from the dead, we now have the power to "...walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4). Our
"old man" that produces death in us was crucified with Him, "...that we should no longer be
slaves of sin" (vs. 6). "...Death no longer has dominion over [Christ]...He lives to God" (vss.
9,10). Likewise, consider yourself "...dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our
Lord" (vs. 11); and, therefore, "...do not let sin reign in your mortal body...." (Rom. 6:12).
Come ye, let us behold our Life placed in a tomb to give life to those who are placed in
tombs....But arise by Thine own power, Thou Who didst deliver Thyself by Thine own choice for
our sake....Thou Who didst crush the might of death, and opened the gates of paradise for
mankind, glory to Thee!
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