On Holy Saturday · §4 · Amphilochius of Iconium

The tomb cannot hold the risen Lord

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The preacher is addressing the Jew who sealed and guarded the tomb, challenging him to stop fighting God and to remember the raising of Lazarus as proof that Christ will rise.

Do not labour to no profit. Do not spend what is yours on impiety. Do not imagine victory against God. Do not pay soldiers to say one thing instead of another. Do not make the crowd sleep beside the tomb. Do not trust in weapons. Resurrection is not hindered by weapons, is not blocked by seals, is not barred by soldiers, is not stolen with money. But do you not believe? Did you not see Lazarus long ago shaking off death as if it were sleep? Did you see how the dead man obeyed the command and the binding did not hinder him? Did you see how he walked with his grave-cloths still on when he heard "Come out" (John 11:43)? Did you see how the voice fitted together the one dissolved by death? The one who had power for those things will have power for these things too. The one who raised the servant will himself rise far more. The one who gave life to the rotting man will not leave himself dead. But the blindness of the Jews is great, and seeing the wonders they do not see. They have eyes but do not see, ears have they and do not hear (Isaiah 6:9-10). For the god of this age has blinded their hearts so that the gospel of righteousness may not shine upon them (2 Corinthians 4:4). But let us leave them for now in unbelief, and let us say with the women around Mary, shaping for ourselves in thought the tomb of the Saviour: "They have taken away our Lord and we do not know what they have done with him" (John 20:2). To him be glory with the undefiled Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Greek

Μὴ κάμῃς ἀνόνητα, μὴ εἰς ἀσέβειαν ἀναλώσῃς τὰ σά, μὴ κατὰ θεοῦ φαντάζου τὴν νίκην, μὴ δῷς μισθὸν στρατιώταις

ἕτερα ἀνθ' ἑτέρων εἰπεῖν, μὴ παρακοιμίσῃς τὸν ὄχλον τῷ μνήματι, μὴ θαρρήσῃς τοῖς ὅπλοις. Ὅπλοις ἀνάστασις οὐ κωλύεται, οὐκ ἐμποδίζεται ταῖς σφραγίσιν, οὐκ εἴργεται στρατιώταις, οὐ κλέπτεται χρήμασιν. Ἀλλ' ἀπιστεῖς; Μὴ οὐκ εἶδες τὸν Λάζαρον πάλαι καθάπερ ὕπνον τὸν θάνατον ἀποσεισάμενον; Εἶδες πῶς ἠκολούθησε τῷ προστάγματι ὁ νεκρὸς καὶ ὁ δεσμὸς οὐκ ἐκώλυσε; Εἶδες πῶς σὺν αὐταῖς κηρίαις ἐβάδιζε τὸ ∆εῦρο ἔξω ἀκούσας; Εἶδες πῶς ἥρμοσεν ἡ φωνὴ τὸν διαλυθέντα θανάτῳ; Ὁ ἐκεῖνα δυνηθεὶς καὶ ταῦτα δυνήσεται, ὁ τὸν δοῦλον ἀναστήσας αὐτὸς πολλῷ πλέον ἐγείρεται, ὁ ζωογονήσας τὸν σεσηπότα οὐκ ἐάσει νεκρὸν ἑαυτόν. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἡ τυφλότης τῶν Ἰουδαίων πολλὴ καὶ ὁρῶσα τὰ θαύματα οὐχ ὁρᾷ· ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσιν καὶ οὐ βλέπουσιν, ὦτα ἔχουσι καὶ οὐκ ἀκούουσιν. Ὁ θεὸς γὰρ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσε αὐτῶν τὰς καρδίας πρὸς τὸ μὴ καταυγάσαι αὐτοῖς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς δικαιοσύνης. Ἀλλ' ἐκείνους μὲν τέως ἐάσωμεν τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ, ἡμεῖς δὲ λέγωμεν μετὰ τῶν περὶ Μαριὰν τὴν πιστὴν κατὰ διάνοιαν ἀναπλάττοντες ἑαυτοῖς τοῦ σωτῆρος τὸν τάφον· Ἦραν ἡμῶν τὸν κύριον καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν τί ἐποίησαν αὐτόν. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα σὺν τῷ ἀχράντῳ πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεί, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 2

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About this text

Holy Saturday: Christ lies in the tomb while his soul frees the dead. Amphilochius preaches the quiet triumph.

Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340–c. 395) was a fourth-century bishop in central Asia Minor, a friend of Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus, and a participant in the First Council of Constantinople in 381. He wrote this homily for the Christians of his diocese, to be delivered during the Holy Saturday liturgy, the day when the church commemorates the burial of Christ and waits for his resurrection. His purpose was to turn the congregation from grief at the tomb toward confidence in the victory hidden within it, and to answer the mockery of both Jews and pagans who saw the crucifixion as proof that the Christian hope was dead.

The sermon was preached on the Great and Holy Saturday of the Paschal week, the day between Good Friday and Easter. Amphilochius addresses a congregation assembled for the burial feast of the Savior, and he speaks directly to two groups of opponents: Jews, who sealed the tomb and set guards over it, and Greeks, pagans who mock the Christian hope and have shut up their own hopes in tombs. He quotes the prophet David, Christ on the cross, and Christ's own words about the temple, and he argues against the Jewish precautions at the tomb, saying that the very act of sealing and guarding it shows they feared Jesus was no mere man.

A reader should know that the homily uses Hades for the realm of the dead, which Christ enters to despoil and fill with light, and that death and life are spoken of as persons, with death swallowing life but unable to hold it. The author quotes the Psalms according to the Septuagint numbering, so Psalm 15 in the sermon is Psalm 16 in modern English Bibles, and Psalm 48 is Psalm 49. He also quotes Isaiah, the Gospel of John, and Luke, and he alludes to the raising of Lazarus as proof of Christ's power over death. The sermon ends by inviting the congregation to join Mary and her companions at the tomb in faith and to make their words their own.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 39 (Greek)

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