Last Sunday was Easter, or Pascha, for us Eastern Orthodox Christians. Easter is more than a day that marks the miracle of a man coming back from the dead. When properly placed in the Bible’s spanning narrative, Jesus’ resurrection is the fulfillment of God’s promises to restore his creation through Abraham’s family. The resurrection of all of God’s faithful people was to be the event that ended this present age and launched God’s new age, his New Creation. By raising Jesus, The Faithful One, in advance, God launched his New Creation in the midst of the corrupt and broken creation. For the New Creation is the old creation renewed, restored and transformed. Those who loyally follow Jesus, learning from him how to be like him, are both the ongoing recipients and agents of God’s New Creation template (John 13:15) in the midst of this present one until Jesus returns to ultimately transform everything and complete the work begun through his Resurrection.

Christ is risen! Truly he is risen!