Your bones shall become rich, flourishing like a well-watered plant, and like a spring that never runs dry (Isaiah 58:11). During the time of the prophet Isaiah, there were individuals, much like today, who voiced their grievances to God about the lack of rewards for their devotion. “Why have we fasted, and You do not see?” (Isaiah 58:3) The Prophet addresses this by explaining that both “fasting and the Sabbath” and sincere spiritual practices are cherished by God, as long as individuals do not seek their personal desires during “the days of their fasting” (Isaiah 58:3). As a response to their genuine worship, God promises that even their bones will thrive like a flourishing plant and a spring that is forever full. It is indeed an astonishing promise! The bones of this mortal body do not seem to become robust through fasting or spiritual retreats. Similarly, another divinely inspired individual praises the noble men, declaring, “And the bones of both the Prophets shall flourish from their places” (Sir. 49:12). Yet, by the time the son of Sirach wrote this, the bones of the Prophets had long been at rest in their graves. Do not those who have found favor with God through self-denial have their bones ‘thrive’ and ‘flourish’ even in the grave? Therefore, they certainly do prosper and flourish! The righteous grow abundant and prosperous spiritually during their lives, experiencing joy in God (Psalm 62:6), while the “righteous man, like a phoenix, flourishes” (Psalm 91:13) through good deeds that yield blessings for the sacred place; they prosper and thrive, though their flesh may wither due to the discipline of abstinence, for “though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). After death, the bones of the righteous bloom and shine with the glory of their virtues, becoming honored and celebrated, having once been diminished and overlooked in life, such that their final resting places are more glorious than the homes they inhabited. Moreover, in the sacred relics of the Righteous displayed before us, we observe how their bones ‘thrive and flourish’ even in death. All human bodies, after they pass away, resemble seeds buried in the ground or plants during winter, gradually and subtly decaying, preparing for the revitalizing spring of the collective resurrection. Yet, some bodies of the righteous resemble laurel trees or other evergreens, visibly thriving and remaining vibrant even in the cold season; “their bones kept by the Lord” (Psalm 33:21) exhibit in themselves the spiritual vibrancy of life, miraculously overflowing onto their surroundings; even before the general resurrection, their bodies begin to ‘flourish’ with the beginnings of incorruption. What is the cause of this phenomenon? Why are the bodies of the righteous imperishable? Why does God bestow them with such incorruptibility? Contemplating these questions may illuminate one of the rewards of righteousness and one motivation for living rightly. “God,” as the Wise One proclaims, “created man in incorruption” (Prem. 2:23). Man’s spirit thrived on the Word of God, experiencing the bliss of eternal life; his body was sustained by the tree of life, thus intended to remain in painless incorruption. “By one man,” as the Apostle states, sin entered into the world, and by sin, death; and so death passed upon all men, for “in him all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Thus, the reason behind man's mortality and the corruption of his body stems from sin, the poison initially received by the soul, eventually infecting the body as well. The return of man “to non-destruction” can only occur when he ceases to be poisoned by sin. But is it feasible to avoid this when “sin has entered into the whole world,” and we are born “in iniquity” (Psalm 50:7) and, as if by natural inclination, “drink iniquity like water” (Job 15:16)? Moreover, healing a person afflicted by poison requires more than merely halting the consumption of poison. No one can recreate themselves; a mortally ill or deceased person cannot restore their own health or bring themselves back to life. If, in their original state, people lived by the Word of God, how much more can nothing other than the creative Word of God raise the mortal to immortality and the corrupt to incorruption? The creative Word is once more spoken into the sin-corrupted creation, as it descends to the depths humanity has fallen due to sin. “The Word was made flesh” (John 1:14). Now all that is fallen and estranged from God’s life receives a new direction of redemption. The Divine Source is rediscovered within the depths of human nature, pouring into it gracious light and strength. Here, the human soul receives a purifying and healing balm that eradicates the deadly toxin of sin while simultaneously supplying a fortifying and protective remedy that prevents this contagion from being aggravated by new transgressions. The life-giving impact of grace—just as much as the once-deadly influence of sin—permeates all aspects of human existence, from the spirit to the body; and since God’s power undoubtedly surpasses the force of sin, which is a form of weakness, it should not come as a surprise that grace, “exceeding abundant” (Rom. 5:20), is more robust than “sin multiplied,” providing healing and restoration more effectively than sin can infect and destroy. “Though through the transgression of one man,” reasoned the Apostle, “many die, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace of the one man Jesus Christ has abounded to many” (Rom. 5:15). “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21). Thus, the Word of God, descending before the Incarnation, paves the way for the flesh itself to attain incorruption and exaltation; Jesus Christ becomes our “resurrection” (John 11:25), and when He dwells in our hearts through faith, the energy of His resurrection gradually illuminates the bodies that have been purified and sanctified by belief. Observe throughout the history of humanity how this resurrection power has always been proportional to the gradual unveiling of the incarnate Word of God. In earlier centuries, the entire mystery of Christ was encapsulated in the pronouncement of “the seed of the woman crushing the serpent’s head,” and we witnessed the power of the Resurrection embodied in Enoch, who, much like a solitary eagle youthful once again, soars incorruptibly above the moral decay of the world. In the age of the Prophets, when the promise of Christ as “the seed through whom all nations will be blessed” was reiterated and elucidated more fully, faith was stirred and substantially instilled in the hearts of believers. Consequently, the power of resurrection was manifested not only in Elijah, akin to Enoch, when he ascended into heaven, but also became evident in the lives of Elijah and Elisha through their resurrections of the dead. Additionally, an exceptional instance of resurrection occurred through the bones of the deceased prophet Elisha; as the Book of Kings describes, “And it came to pass, as they buried a man, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha, and when the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet” (2 Kings 13:21). Therefore, when the long-awaited Incarnation of the Word of God transpired, who can fathom the torrents of resurrection power that surged across this Earth, still yet unrenewed? In alignment with the intent of this discourse, a particular event deserves mention. When Jesus Christ, by His voluntary suffering for our salvation, descended into the realm of death to introduce His life-giving power, thereby dismantling the empire of death from its very roots, His power entered all, bringing life where there was none. This explains why “the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints that slept arose” (Matt. 27:52). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). He, as God, “worketh all things in all” (1 Cor. 12:6). He continues to work as He always has, from the beginning and through to the end; He acts in both the grand and the minute, within His entire Church, which is His body, and in every believer, who is His member. He “forms in them” (Gal. 4:19), “dwells in them” (Gal. 2:20), and as all the fullness of the Godhead resides bodily in Him (Col. 2:9), He delights to dwell within His chosen, even physically, when they are prepared for intimate communion with Him. Does He find a heart opened through repentance, faith, and love? Then He “dwells in the heart” (Eph. 3:17), breathing new life into it, transforming the earthly into the heavenly, and human characteristics into those of the angelic. Can the body, in harmony with the soul, be purified through fasting and virtuous works, rendering it capable of receiving the imprints of the divine movements of grace? In that case, even during earthly existence, it begins to be God-bearing. Though this notion of an earthly being being God-bearer may strike some as peculiar, I do not regret expressing it; for it is not merely a figment of my imagination, but a reflection of the experience that was evident from the Apostolic age, a legacy preserved reverently through the ages of the Saints. Saint Ignatius, the Theotokos, cherished the sweet name of Jesus Christ so deeply that this profound impression was visibly marked on his heart, and when, following his martyrdom, his heart was opened, the name of Jesus was revealed within. Just as a vessel containing fragrant oil absorbs its aroma over time, so too the Christian’s body, in which the grace of Christ continually resides, becomes infused with it wholly, even emitting a pleasing fragrance to others. What a marvelous reward for piety, dear brethren, that it elevates the human spirit into a state of gracious communion with Christ, while even the bodies which undertake these acts of fasting, prayer, and loving service participate in the miraculous and life-giving power of Christ! If this is true in our earthly lives, imagine the life, power, and glory that await the pious in heaven! Nevertheless, we should observe that not all virtuous individuals, nor even all the Saints, partake in this “initial” resurrection (Rev. 20:6), which is marked by the extraordinary manifestation of incorruption in their sanctified bodies; just as in the first instance of this resurrection, “many bodies of the holy saints which slept arose” (Matt. 27:52), but not all the bodies of the deceased holy were revived. What does this imply? Can it be that God is unjust to His saints, disproportionately increasing grace for some while diminishing it for others, bringing immortality near to certain individuals and withholding it from others, and glorifying some while obscuring others? Surely, no one familiar with the nature of God can understand such notions. What, then, does the seeming inequality among the rewards granted to the Saints signify? Perhaps it correlates with differing levels of inner sanctification. As the Apostle remarks, “there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41-42). From this, we might conclude with greater confidence that this reward is extended to them not merely as a recompense, but for higher purposes that align with God's wisdom and goodness. Indeed, for those not seeking worldly glory, who remain assured that they will eternally share in the glory of God alongside Christ, does it truly matter whether they experience this present glory on Earth or not? However, just as when Christ arose, “many bodies of the departed saints arose” so that, “after His resurrection, they went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” to affirm the power of the resurrected Christ, even today, the incorruptible bodies of the saints bear witness to us who remain, reaffirming—should there be any among us who doubt—Christ’s resurrection and our forthcoming resurrection.
THEOSIS