By Photios Kontoglou
The faith of a Christian is tested by the Resurrection of Christ like gold in a furnace. Out of the entire Gospel, the Resurrection of Christ is the most unbelievable thing, totally inadmissible by our logic and a true cause of its suffering. Because it is something totally unbelievable, for this reason it requires all of our faith to believe in it. We people often say we have faith, but we only have it for those things that are believable to our minds. But then faith is not needed, since logic is enough. Faith is required for the unbelievable.
Many people are unbelievers. The same disciples of Christ did not have faith in the teachings of their Teacher who had told them He would be raised, despite all the respect and loyalty they had for Him and the trust they had in His words. And when the Myrrhbearers went at dawn to the sepulcher of Christ, and beheld the two angels who spoke with them, who told them that He had risen, they ran to tell the joyful news to the disciples, but the disciples did not believe their words, having the idea that it was just a fantasy: "But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (Lk. 24:11).
Do you see with how much unbelief Christ Himself struggled? And from His own disciples. Do you see with how much long-suffering He endured everything? And with all this, the majority of us are separated from Christ by a wall of ice, the wall of unbelief. He opens His arms to us and calls us, but we deny Him. He shows us His pierced hands and feet, and we say that we do not see them.
We try to find support for our unbelief to satisfy our ego, and we call these Philosophy and Science. The word Resurrection does not have a place in our books of knowledge. Because "the knowledge of this world cannot know anything except the multitude of their thoughts, not however with the simplicity of ones mind." Yes, those who have this mind of blessed simplicity, the Lord blessed, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." And to Thomas, who sought to touch Him in order to believe, He said: "Because you have seen Me Thomas, you have believed? Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe."
Let us ask the Lord to give us this rich poverty, this pure heart, so that we can see Him being raised and be raised with Him. "This ignorance is higher than knowledge" (St. Isaac the Syrian). Most fortunate and thrice-fortunate are they who have it.
Christ is Risen!
