Therefore, the word resurrection meant (before Christians invested it with their specific content and began to use it as an icon, which indicates a spiritual reality) – return to life (i.e., back, to the lost form of existence), to the biological form, which was interrupted or lost. For example, the process of reviving nature in spring after winter death was denoted by the word resurrection; resurrection of people (return from III f. existence back to II f.), that is, resuscitation: Resurrection (resuscitation) of the youth by Elijah, the child by Elisha, a man by touching the bones of Elisha, the daughter of Jairus, the son of a widow, Lazarus four days by Jesus Christ, Tabitha by Peter, Eutychus by Paul – these and other resuscitations (biological processes of ‘leather robes’) were called ‘resurrection.’ When the Church speaks about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (and ours in Him), then in Its mouth this word (resurrection) – is a verbal icon (whose ‘matter’ is a biological reality), which indicates a completely different reality: using the created to indicate the uncreated, using the earthly – on the Heavenly, Spiritual, Divine (similarly, as in the case with the concept ‘death’ – see above). Therefore, the Resurrection of the Lord – is not a biological (atomic-molecular) process, which is only an icon, an indication of the Resurrection; but using, by analogy, biological death and resurrection (resuscitation), the Church indicates a spiritual reality, denoting through the word ‘death’ – falling away from God, breaking unity… and through ‘resurrection’ – restoring unity, wholeness of the god-human (where God and man – are one Whole) organism (i.e., the Church). Therefore, the Resurrection in the Church’s understanding does not depend on the biological form of existence (and the Church uses its processes only as the best analogy and no more), this is an absolutely other-natural process.
Thus, Christ Resurrected from the dead bodily – what is this Gospel about? We have already, having said about the meaning (which the Church invests) of each word: ‘Resurrection,’ ‘death,’ ‘body’ – said everything, the attentive reader can draw conclusions himself. But since I found in the father’s notebooks interesting (in my opinion) thoughts concerning the bodily Resurrection from the dead, then, with your permission, I will share them with you.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Savior, because He saved us (from sin, curse, and death). To save, as we saw above, is the same as to heal (salvation – is a bodily process, ‘in the body,’ i.e., integral, complex treatment of the whole being). The Resurrection of the Lord – is the completion and fulfillment of salvation. Therefore, salvation is the same as resurrection. The Lord – our sanctification, sanctified us (to sanctify – means to make Divine, to dedicate to the service of God, to raise on the altar; Christ sanctified us in the absolute final understanding – nothing can be added to this, because ‘In Christ dwells all (emphasis – V.A.) the fullness of the Godhead bodily’; this means that there is no longer anything unsanctified, not Divine, profane, (everyday), which would be opposed to the sacred, holy. Therefore, all acts of sanctification and the sacraments, which are performed (better to say sacredly performed, creating conditions for the best perception of Reality, acceptance of the Holy Spirit; because the sacraments are performed only by the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit) by the Church by religious communities led by a presbyter, – are not sanctification in the proper sense, because everything is already sanctified, deified eucharistically in Christ, but a manifestation, revelation of that Sanctification, which was accomplished in Christ). One and the same action, which was performed by the Lord, is denoted by different words: salvation=resurrection=healing=redemption=sanctification=deification=adoption… One simple Divine action, by which the Lord placed us, raised us in divine dignity, introduced us into the Life of the Holy Trinity, is denoted by many different words (which in earthly experience mean different realities), firstly, to avoid the temptation to understand the Mystery, ‘to exhaust’ the bottomless depth of Divine Wisdom (which is equivalent to pride, perdition – to be like God), secondly, to somehow make understandable to the proclaimed (Christians – who live by the Holy Spirit, live in the Mystery – words, which speak ‘about…,’ are not needed), what happens in the Mystery of Salvation, Deification. Since we are trying to understand the essence of the Resurrection in this chapter, then for a better understanding let’s take a synonymous series: resurrection=salvation=healing.
Resurrection – is not a return or restoration of biological life, – it is a transition from godless, hellish form of existence to Divine Life. It does not concern atoms, molecules (nature) in essence, ‘what they are,’ but the mode of their existence – ‘how they are.’ Therefore, in what nature we will resurrect (the Lord Resurrected us, but we have not yet resurrected, have not entered into possession…) does not matter, the main thing is that in the Body (with a capital ‘B’ – because all our being is already Eucharist, Body and Blood of Christ), Wholeness, as a Personality, which embraces all Being with Love (Divine, Holy Spirit) integrally (catholicly). Body – Wholeness, which embraces: for Christ – all reality – both Divine and created, and for created beings (hypostases) – it is to hypostatize, to possess, to embrace, to contain within oneself all created and by grace all Divine reality. To resurrect in the body – is to enter into integral, catholic life, to become a Hypostasis, to take place as a Personality.