Easter Monday

THE LORD’S RESURRECTION

From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux2

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This wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, and no sign will be

given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Do you ask for the sign of his

coming down? I will not give you that, but the sign of his resurrection instead.

There you were, saying, “Let him come down from the cross and we will believe

in him”, and here he is, having done greater things than this, much greater

things. Is it not greater to leave a sealed tomb than to come down from the

cross?

But perhaps you ask how I know that he came forth from a closed tomb.

Yesterday you heard that as the holy women were coming to the tomb an

earthquake occurred, an angel came down from heaven and rolled back the

stone about which they were complaining and sat upon it, saying that he whom

they sought was not there but had already risen. Obviously then, the great

stone… had not yet been rolled back when the Savior came forth. Certainly this

was a greater miracle than if he had come down from the cross. He did a much

more marvelous thing when he rose from the dead.

True, other resurrections had taken place earlier, but they were

preambles to this one, and they were surpassed by this one in two respects.

First, they rose to die again, but Christ being raised now dies no more. Hence

Christ is the first fruits of those who arise, because he was the first to rise after

dying… Christ died once for all and rose once for all.

The Lord’s resurrection surpasses all the others in another way. Some had

been restored to life by others, but none before Christ had been able to restore

themselves to life. Elisha, who had restored the dead to life, has long lain dead

and has not risen. Christ alone has been able to restore himself to life, he who

alone was first among the dead. What will he be able to do, he who is living

eternally and saying to the Father, “I have risen, and I am still with you”, he

who alone with respect to all the dead was so powerful?

It was absolutely fitting for him to rise on the third day because of the text

“after two days he will revive us, and on the third day he will raise us up”.

Thus should it happen to us as to our Head before us. The first day he was on

the cross, the second in the tomb, and on the third day he was glorified by the

triumph of the resurrection. So we also, if we are his members and if we choose

to follow our Head, on the first day – that is, while we are in this mortal flesh –

we will persevere on the cross of our penitence, concerning which he himself

said, “if any want to come after me, let them take up their cross and follow

me”. We will not come down, as Christ did not come down.

Righteous men took him down when he was already dead; may the holy

angels take us down! Thus with the day successfully finished, the second, which

is after death, we will spend in the tomb, sleeping in peace and resting from all

labor. “Henceforth now, says the Spirit, they may rest from their labors”.

On the third day we will rise again to be forever in glory and eternal life.

2 Bernard of Clairvaux – Sermons for Lent and Easter – Cistercian Fathersd Series #52 –Liturgical Press –

Collegeville, MN – 2013 – pg 153.5