Easter Message of Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine Epiphaniy
Easter Message of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine Epiphaniy
to Reverend Archpastors, God-loving shepherds, honorable monkhood
and all Orthodox believers of Ukraine
Dear brothers and sisters!
Christ is Risen!
These short words of familiar Christian greeting actually focus on the content of our faith, so not by accident they were announced by an angel, not by a man, as well as the birth of the Son of God in the world was witnessed not by a man. Early in the morning, myrrh-bearing women came to the grave, so that by custom to mourn the Dead and to anoint His body with frankincense, but their cry changed for joy when they heard the words of the angel: “You are looking for Jesus crucified. He is not here – He is risen, as He has said “(Matthew 28: 5-6).
Why may the greetings “Christ is risen!” and the answer “He is risen indeed!” be rightly called the concentration of our faith?
Because these words for the first time profess that the Lord was truly embodied from the Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary and became a man in all things like us, except sin, namely it’s affirmed that the God’s incarnation was not a symbol or a metaphor, and that the Son of God Himself, not as illusion or vision, appeared among people, but He truly accepted the human nature and became the Son of Man forever.
And, like us, by Saint Isaiah’s prophetic testimony, He “took upon us our infirmities and suffered our diseases; and we thought that He was defeated, punished and humbled by God. But he was covered with wounds for our sins and tormented for our iniquities; The punishment of our world was upon Him, and by His wounds we were healed “(Isaiah 53: 4-5). Having adopted the human nature, struck by the action of evil and subject to death, the Son of God heals it, purifies, renews, sanctifies and destroys the enemy-the death itself (1 Corinthians 15:26).
We also rejoice believing the fact that Christ truly became the founder of the renewed humanity – the new Adam: “For as death through man,” says the apostle Paul, “so through man is resurrection of the dead.” As in Adam, all will die, so in Christ everyone will live “(1 Corinthians 15: 21-22). Through the fall of the ancestors Adam and Eve, the act of evil, corruption and death entered the human nature. Through his birth in the flesh, Adam passed this subservience of evil and death to his descendants – all the people.
If on the first person it depended whether to obey the commandment of God and to preserve immortality, or to violate the will of God and become subject to evil and death, then all the descendants of Adam are doomed to die. However, God did not leave a man in such a state, although he chose this state himself, having sinned and subjected to evil, and from great love to His creation, He sent the only begotten Son into the world , “so that, as the Gospel testifies,” every one who believes in Him did not perish, but had eternal life “(John 3:16).
The act of death in human nature does not depend on us, therefore, we die, although we do not want it, but also the resurrection does not depend on us, because it was performed by the Lord Jesus Christ for all mankind through His own resurrection. Both the sinners and the righteous, believers and unbelievers die as a result of the subordination of the human nature to evil and death, and all people – both righteous and sinful will also be resurrected, according to the Word of God.
It does not depend on us that we are mortal, but how we use the time of our life: for good or for evil – depends on us. It does not depend on us that we all will be resurrected on the last great day of earthly history, the Day of the Second Coming of the Savior and the Last Judgment, but it depends on us whether we will be raised for a blissful eternal life with God, prepared for those who perform His will, love God and neighbors, or will we rise for condemnation to eternal torment, which awaits the adversaries of God.
Our greetings, which we used to glorify the Resurrection of Christ, is also an appeal to everyone: if Christ is resurrected, we will also be resurrected, and if we rise, we must take care that we are resurrected for blissful eternity, and not for the condemnation for our evil deeds .
Two appeals, concentrated in the first words heard by the myrrh-bearing women from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: “Rejoice!” (Matthew 28: 9) and “Do not be afraid!” (Matt. 28: 10) are also connected with the message of the Saviour’s resurrection.
The grief of this world, suffering, the dominance of evil, uncertainty in the future – all of this depresses a person, leads to despondency and despair, but the resurrection of Christ returns joy to us and drives fear away. The Savior Himself encourages us not to be afraid of the power of evil, but victoriously to resist it: “In the world you will suffer from sorrow,” He says, “but be of good courage: I have conquered the world” (John 16: 33).
So much content seems to be in the short and simple words of our mutual greetings! Through them, we assert our faith in God, faith in the true coming to the world of the Son of God, in His victory over evil and death, and in our own resurrection from the dead. All this encourages us to fulfill the commandments of God, to multiply the good and fight against sin in ourselves and in the world around us.
Dear brothers and sisters!
Sharing Easter joy with you , I congratulate you all on the bright Resurrection of Christ, with the saving Easter of Lord! Congratulations to the Head of the Ukrainian State Petro Poroshenko on the holiday, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Government. With a special sense of gratitude, we send our joint greetings to the Ukrainian soldiers who with arms in hands courageously oppose the aggressor and protect the world. We pray for you every day and believe that owing to your sacrificial service Ukraine is approaching victory and a just peace.
From the golden-domed Kyiv we send the warmth of our love and greetings, our prayer requests to those who celebrate Easter in conditions of occupation, behind the bars in captivity or unfair imprisonment. We ask the Lord for protection, peace and freedom for each of you.
On the light Christ’s Resurrection I warmly congratulate all the Orthodox Christians of Ukraine – both the children of the Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church and those who still do not have unity with it, even though confesses one faith with us. Our hearts and fraternal love are open to all of You who desire the good for the Church and Ukraine. And we believe that, as the Lord blessed the being of the local Church of the Ukrainian people, it will bless and perfect the unity of all Orthodox people of Ukraine around the throne of Kyiv.
Congratulations on Easter to all Christians of Ukraine and all our people. May the Lord inspire our hearts to build better future of our homeland together in love, to reject temptations, confrontation and hostility, and to establish the truth, understanding and social peace.
Let’s congratulate each other, let us tell the victory of God over sin,evil,and death to the neighbours and the distant, for truly,
Christ is Risen!
Epiphaniy
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine
Easter of Christ
2019,
Kyiv
