Crucifixion and Resurrection
“The Resurrection was made possible only because of the crucifixion. An earthly death was required in order for the Resurrection to occur…Through the Resurrection, when we fall through death, we are raised to Paradise by the power and the mercy of Christ.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
“In the Crucified Christ, God does not remain a distant spectator of the undeserving suffering of the innocent but He participates in their suffering through the Cross and plants hope in the life of all afflicted persons through the Resurrection.” (Fr. Emmanuel Clapsis)
“The death and resurrection of Christ contain the utter and complete emptiness of hell, the threat of non-being and meaninglessness, the absurdity of suffering and of injured innocence. They also contain the fullness of paradise, the complete joy of existence and the ecstasy of transcendent love. Everything is there.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Now, it is clear that we are not, humanly speaking, present to the historical event itself, so that we can feel the dust beneath our feet, hear the jeers of the soldiers, or shiver in the sudden chill of the sun's eclipse. We do not need to be. We revel in the fact that God stepped into history, and we affirm the events described in the Scriptures to be fully accurate. And the power of Christ's crucifixion moves through all time, because the One crucified was fully God as well as fully man. Through the use of Scripture in the Church we become present to the everlasting mystical reality of Christ crucified and risen again.” (Fr. John Hainsworth)
“After the resurrection, when our bodies will be re-united to our souls, they will be incorruptible; and the carnal passions which disturb us now will not be present in those bodies; we shall enjoy a peaceful equilibrium in which the prudence of the flesh will not make war upon the soul; and there will no longer be that internal warfare wherein sinful passions fight against the law of the mind [nous], conquering the soul and taking it captive by sin. Our nature then will be purified of all these tendencies, and one spirit will be in both...and every corporeal affection will be banished from our nature.” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa)