The Resurrection Letters
THE RESURRECTION LETTERS
a sound enough mind to guide them. Where there is good judgment, the Word (the Son), who is the pilot of souls, guides the vessel. "For he who has understanding shall possess guidance" (Prov. 1:5), but those who are without guidance fall like the leaves.
THE DISCIPLES CONTINUED STEADFAST
Some fall away completely like Hymenaus and Philetus, who held evil opinions about the Resurrection and consequently suffered shipwreck in the faith. Judas, the betrayer, fell away from the Pilot and perished with the Jews. But the other disciples were wise and stayed with the Lord. And when the sea was agitated and the sky was splashed by waves because of a storm and a contrary wind, they did not fall away. Rather, they awoke the Word, who was sailing with them. At His command the sea became smooth, and they were saved (Mark 4:35-41).
They later became preachers and teachers, telling the stories of the miracles of our Savior and teaching us to follow their example. What they wrote is for us and for our benefit, so that through a knowledge of His signs and wonders we may come to know the Lord who performed them. Therefore, let us maintain the faith of the disciples and live in close relationship with our
Master.
THE WORLD COMPARED WITH THE SEA
Brothers and sisters, to us the world is like the sea, of which it is written, "There is the great and wide sea; there go the ships and the Leviathan which you have created to play in it"
(Ps. 104:25,26). On this sea we float along, carried by our own free will, as if by the wind. Everyone sets his course according to his will: either he enters into rest with the Word (the Son) as his Pilot, or he falls for the pursuit of pleasure and runs into perilous storms and gets shipwrecked.
Just as there are windstorms and rain out in the ocean, so there are many troubles and trials in the world. Someone who really doesn't believe "stumbles when affliction or persecution
LETTER XII
arises" (Mark 4:17). Having his eyes on temporal things and not being firmly fixed in the faith, he cannot bear up under the difficulties that result from afflictions. He is like the house built on sand (Luke 6:49) by the foolish man. Since he doesn't understand what is going on, he falls when the winds of temptation blow on him.
The saints, however, do not wither in the face of trials. Their ability to discern has been trained by practice (Heb. 5:14), and they understand the Word and are strong in faith. Although the trials may sometimes be greater as time goes on, they remain faithful. "Awakening" the Lord, who is with them, they are delivered.
So "passing through fire and water" to a place where they can breathe freely, they keep the Feast properly, giving praise and thanksgiving to God, who has redeemed them. Having been tempted, they are known by God, as Abraham was. Or having suffered, they are approved by Him, as was Job. Or being oppressed and deceitfully treated, they patiently endure it like
Joseph. Or being persecuted, they are not conquered. Rather, as it is written, they "leap over the wall" (Ps. 18:29) of wickedness that divides and separates brothers, turning them from truth.
In this manner St. Paul rejoiced, taking pleasure in his infirmities, in disgrace, in need, in persecution, and in distress for Christ. In fact, he wanted all of us to rejoice, for he said,
"Rejoice always; in everything give thanks" (1 Thess. 5:18).
THE PROPER OBSERVANCE OF THE FEAST
What is more in harmony with the Feast than turning from wickedness to pure behavior, unceasing prayer, and thanksgiving to God? While looking forward to the celebration of eternal joy in heaven, let us keep the Feast here as well— rejoicing at all times, constantly praying, and giving thanks to the Lord in everything. I, for one, give thanks to God that even though He has severely disciplined us, He has not delivered us over to death. Indeed, He brought us back from a long way off, sometimes seeming like the ends of the earth, to unite us with you
THE RESURRECTION LETTERS
once again. And yes, I thank Him for all the various ways He has helped us, as well as for the many wonders He has done.
As I have prepared to keep the fast myself, I have also been eager to give you notice of it and of the great Feast of Passover
(Easter). For I want very much for us to go up together, as it were, to Jerusalem, and eat the Passover with no division between us, but as people in one house. Yes, and let us divide the Word of God, not watered down as if boiled in water; nor let us disobey the commands of the gospel, having "broken its bones." Rather, let us keep the Feast with penitence and thanksgiving, "roasted with fire, with bitter herbs" — that is, prostrating ourselves before God in fasting and prayer, maintaining an earnest and sincere attitude (Exod. 12:8,9,46).7
THE DATES OF THE FAST AND FEAST
We begin the forty-day fast on the second day of March.
Then, after we have properly fasted and prayed through that period, we will be prepared for the holy day. Anyone who treats the fast of forty days lightly, rashly, and impurely treads holy things underfoot and cannot celebrate the Easter festival. Let us call each other to remembrance and stimulate one another not to be forgetful or fail to fast on those days. Then the fasts will point us to our goal and we will bring the Feast to a close in the appropriate manner.
As we said, then, the forty-day fast begins on March 2. The great week of the Passover begins on April 6. Let us rest from the fast late in the evening of Saturday, April 11. Let us keep
7The play on words refers to how the flesh of the Paschal lamb was to be prepared. If it were boiled, water would be mixed with it. The application is that we are to know nothing but Jesus Christ crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Further, just as the bones of the Paschal lamb were not to be broken, we are not to disobey the commands of God.
The Passover was to be eaten in one house. Therefore, we are to celebrate the Christian festival with unity of spirit. We are not to be schismatics, but rather we are to be as one house—the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
As the Paschal lamb was to be roasted with fire, we also are to burn like a flame in our zeal for the Lord. The bitter herbs remind us to watch and pray to bring forth fruits of repentance.
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the Feast, therefore, on Sunday, April 12. And then let us add, one after the other, the seven holy weeks of the feast from Easter to Pentecost Sunday. During the whole of that time, let us rejoice and praise God. For it is He who has given us these special times every year to tell us of the joy and everlasting rest that is prepared in heaven for those of us who truly believe in Christ Jesus our Lord—through whom and with whom be glory and dominion to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. The brothers and sisters who are with me greet you.® 8To this letter Athanasius added a list of changes in bishops in the area for which he was responsible.
PART III
OUR RESPONSE
LET US CELEBRATE THE FEAST
We have come to a time in which we, the people of the church, tend to see Eastertime only as a remembrance of a set of historical events. But when we fail to go beyond remembering, we lose much of Easter's significance. We need the sense of participation in our redemption, of "being there"; of feeling the doom of death and the life of resurrection.
But this does not come by merely thinking about these things. Human experience can never be fulfilled in the mind alone. The fast is part of the participation of the body, and the body is indeed part of us. We are each a unity: body, soul, heart, mind, will, spirit — all bound into one person. Thus, when we fast the body feels it and participates in the reason for which we fast.
Understand, then, that a fast is not just a formal abstinence from food for a certain period, nor is it an abstinence to gain points with God. It is a discipline exerted upon ourselves. The great fourth-century preacher John Chrysostom made pointed reference to total participation in a sermon on fasting:
Do you fast? Give me proof of it by what you do! What do I mean? Well, if you see a poor man, take pity on him! If you see a beautiful woman, don't dwell on fornication! Don't fast by the mouth, but also the eye, the ear, the feet, the hands — all members of your body. Let your hands fast by being pure from stealing and taking things which others should have. Let your feet fast by not running to watch things you shouldn't. Let your eyes fast, being taught not to look at things they shouldn't, and
LET US CELEBRATE THE FEAST
especially not to stare at beautiful women. ... Let the ear fast also. The fasting of the ear consists in refusing to listen to evil talk and rumors.
. Let the mouth, too, fast from disgraceful talk.1
Obviously, John had preparation in mind. To him, it would be silly to abstain from food just to abstain from food. In the same sermon he said:
. when Lent makes its appearance, like a kind of spiritual summer, let us as soldiers burnish our weapons; and as farmers let us sharpen our sickles; and as sailors let us order our thoughts against the waves of extravagant desires; and as travellers let us set out on the journey towards heaven; and as wrestlers let us strip for the contest.?
That's what we need to do in preparing for the Great Feast, the Great Eucharist— Easter. Let us subdue our bodies and put evil thoughts out of our minds and prepare ourselves to celebrate our redemption. Let us in the church in this twentieth century attend to the Scripture readings in the weeks before Easter. Let us prepare our hearts with pure thoughts and prayers. We read in a preserved fragment of Athanasius' Letter for 348:
In these days of the Passover, we should rise early with the saints and come to the Lord with all our soul, with purity of body, with confession and godly faith in Him. Thus, when we have drunk and been filled by the divine water which flows from Him, we will be prepared to sit at table with the saints in heaven, and to share with them in their one voice of joy and gladness.
Then, when the day of resurrection dawns, let the church gather with hopeful, thankful hearts, and let us keep the Feast with our Lord, for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, and He said:
1Paraphrased from Sermons of John Chrysostom, Vol. 9, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. W.R.W. Stephens, First
Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956).
2Tbid.
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Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me, and I in him As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of Me (John 6:54-57).
SUGGESTED READINGS FOR THE
FORTY FAST DAYS OF LENT
< Psalm 68 and "Life of Athanasius" (Chapter Two) Isaiah 38:1-6; Matthew 8:5-13; Psalm 54 Isaiah 58:1-9; Matthew 4:43-48, 6:14; Psalm 26
Isaiah 58:9-14; Mark 6:47-56 and "Easter in the Early Church" (Chapter Three) Ezekiel 34:11—-16; Matthew 25:31-46; Psalm 83
Isaiah 55:6-11; Matthew 21:10-17; Psalm 89 Exodus 24:12-18; Matthew 12:38-50; First Letter
Ezekiel 18:1-9; Matthew 15:21-28; Psalm 16 Ezekiel 18:20-28; John 5:1-15; Psalm 85 Deuteronomy 26:12-19; 1 Thessalonians 5:14-23; Second
Letter Daniel 9:15-19; John 8:21-29; Psalm 69 1 Kings 17:8-16; Matthew 23:1-12; Psalm 54
Psalm 27; Matthew 20:17-28; Third Letter Jeremiah 17:5-10; Luke 16:19-31; Psalm 78 t="
© CO "1D Ol PRONE LY ° 8 Genesis 37:6-22; Matthew 21:33-46; Psalm 11 Genesis 27:6-39; Luke 1:11-32; Fourth Letter
2 Kings 5:1-15; Luke 4:23-30; Psalm 55 2 Kings 4:1-7; Matthew 18:15-22; Psalm 18
Exodus 20:12-24; Matthew 15:1-20; Fifth Letter Jeremiah 7:1-7; Luke 4:38-44; Psalm 144 Exodus 17:2; Numbers 20:1-3; 6-13; John 4:5-42; Psalm
Daniel 13:1-9; 15-17; 19-30; 33-62; John 8:1-11; Sixth Letter
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1 Kings 3:16-28; John 2:13-25; Psalm 30 Exodus 32:7-14; John 7:14-31; Psalm 43 Ezekiel 36:23-26; John 9:1-38; Seventh Letter
2 Kings 4:8-37; Luke 7:11-16; Psalm 73 1 Kings 17:17-24; John 11:1-45; Psalm 117
Isaiah 49:8-15; John 8:12-20; Eighth Letter Jonah 3:1-10; John 7:32-39; Psalm 53 Daniel 14:29-42; John 7:1-13; Psalm 42 Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-19,25; John 10:22-38; Ninth Letter
Daniel 3:25,34-45; Luke 7:36-50; Psalm 95 Jeremiah 17:13-18; John 11:47-54; Psalm 34
Jeremiah 18:18-23 Isaiah 50:5-10; John 12:1—-9; Psalm 102 Jeremiah 11:18-20; Mark 14:32-72; 15:1-46; Psalm 66
Isaiah 62:11; 63:1-7; Luke 22:39-71; Eleventh Letter Isaiah 61:1-4,6,8,9; Luke 4:16-22; Psalm 88
Philippians 2:8,9; John 13:1-15; Psalm 47 Exodus 12:1-11; John 18,19; Twelfth Letter and Conclusion
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
CONCERNING LENTEN PRACTICES
FASTING IN THE CHURCH!
What do you mean by "fast days"?
Days set aside to humble ourselves before God, repressing the appetites of our bodies and turning our attention upon whatever matter the Lord has set before us.
PO What is the nature of a fast?
In a strict sense, it implies total abstinence from all food and drink during the whole day. The ancient Christians
PO often fasted from morning to evening and then ate sparingly of simple food. It appears that a fast period of several days often consisted of a string of days with such a simple meal at the end of each.
In a larger sense, fasting implies an abstinence from particular kinds of food, such as meat or wine, or a deferring of eating beyond the usual hours. In these cases as well, some self-denial of our bodily appetites is intended.
It seems that during periods of fasting in the ancient church, the daily simple meals, particularly during Lent, involved an abstinence from meat and wine. Such meals usually consisted of vegetables, grains, and legumes. They held to a cheap and plain diet at such times, without appetizing sauces or delicacies. Some held to a dry diet of nuts and similar foods, and some ate only bread and water.
1Partially adapted from Robert Nelson, A Companion for the Festivals and Fasts (London: T. Osborne, et al., 1766).
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What are the reasons for Christian fasts?
For one thing, it is a proper means to express sorrow and grief. It is also an appropriate tool to help us turn our minds toward anything that is serious. We find ancient descriptions that suggest an almost universal use of fasting as a part of repentance, an act of humbling oneself before God. In the case of Jonah's encounter with the Ninevites
(Jonah 3:5), we see that this was a concept they understood. There is, of course, Old Testament precedent for fasting (Ps. 69:10; Daniel 9:3).
Our Savior did not give us any specific commands to fast, but He did join it to almsgiving and prayer. His instructions about how to fast (Matt. 6:16-18) presuppose that it will be done. In that passage He indicates when a fast will be acceptable to God. On another occasion He expressly said that the time would come when His disciples would fast (Luke 5:35). When He tells of the Pharisee who boasted that he fasted twice each week, Jesus does not blame him for fasting but for boasting about it. (See also
Luke 2:37; Acts 10:30; Acts 13:2.) Was fasting practiced in the ancient church?
There are several references:
A. a.
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, wrote in a letter to the Philippians sometime before the middle of the second century:
Therefore let us give up the vanity of the crowd and the false teachings and return to the word handed on to us from the beginning, being sober in prayer, and persevering in fasts, in our entreaties beseeching the all-seeing God to lead us not into temptation, as the Lord said: "The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." b.
In the Didache, a second-century document:
But do not let your fasts fall on the same days as "the hypocrites" (Matt. 6:16ff.), who fast on Monday and Thursday. Rather you should fast on Wednesday and Friday" (8:1).
APPENDIX B
There is also material on fasting in the secondcentury Shepherd of Hermas, where the emphasis is on doing more than going through the motions of a fast.? d.
As time goes on and we have more writings available to examine, we find the pre-Easter fast practiced throughout Christendom. See especially the Festal
Letters of Athanasius.
When should we consider that a fast is undertaken for "spiritual" or "religious" purposes?
When it is undertaken to restrain the appetites of the body and to keep it under control so that we can devote ourselves to the Lord. Also, when we intend to humble ourselves before God under a sense of the magnitude of our sins. I would say that in some sense it can be so when we knowledgeably fast in order to make up for the fact that we have overindulged in those good things God gives us to enjoy, and have therefore put on weight that we should not have. Without doubt, the control of our bodily appetites is somehow related to our ability to place a true value on the happiness of the future life.
What should we do if fasting hurts our health?
It might be that plain and simple food in smaller quantities would be suitable in such a case.
THE FORTY DAYS OF LENT
What do you mean by Lent?
The word "Lent" comes from the old Saxon language and means "spring." You can see how it came to be associated in the English language with the spring fast observed during the period before the great festival of our Savior's resurrection.
PO 2Jack Sparks, ed., Apostolic Fathers (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1978), pp.
210-13.
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Is there any way we can know that this fast is truly an ancient one in the church?
The testimonies are many. Irenaeus, who wrote no more than ninety years after the death of the apostle John and who studied under Polycarp (who had known that apostle and others), tells us that the fast was observed in his time just as it had been previously. At that time there was great variety in the length of the fast. There is no ancient data to be found contradicting the observance of a solemn fast before Easter. By the time of Athanasius in the fourth century, the period was definitely forty days.
Why forty days?
No one can say for sure, although the association of the number "forty" with repentance, mourning, and preparation has much scriptural precedence (Gen. 7:4; Num.
PO 14:34; Deut. 25:3; 9:9; 9:25; 1 Kings 19:8; Jonah 3:4; Matt.
4:2), What was the purpose of the ancient Lenten fast?
PO It was a time set apart as a proper season for:
Exercising self-control 2.
Reminding us of the sufferings of Christ for us 3.
Contributing to our public confession that He died for our salvation 4.
Preparing ourselves to celebrate His resurrection with gladness and joy, participating in that Feast time as a sort of "first fruit" of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
How did the ancient Christians observe the Lenten fast?
There was variety:
PO 1.
Some abstained from meat and wine through all of Lent.
Some fasted on particular days.
Some also cut out eggs and fruit, eating only vegetables and bread.
In Holy Week itself, some ate only bread and water and salt, or a dry diet of nuts, etc.
APPENDIX B
All was done, however, as the church directed, so that people knew what they should do and knew what leeway
(in both directions) was permissible.
But since the life of a Christian ought always to be under the lordship of Christ, isn't it rather contradictory to set aside such a time as Lent for this purpose?
We cannot keep everything in mind all the time. The seasons of the year give us regular times for self-control and self-examination, hope and rejoicing —all in the perspective of appropriate aspects of what the Lord has done for us. If all were fasting, we would perhaps think too much of our self-control. If all were feasting, we would perhaps grow spiritually fat and dull of hearing, learning only to indulge ourselves. It is very good that we have such a solemn season as Lent, when the command of our superiors, the provision of fit means to assist us, and the practice of devout Christians in all ages call us to sober thought concerning repentance and faith — yea, call us to holy and godly living.
ASH WEDNESDAY—
THE FIRST DAY OF LENT
Why does the forty-day fast, called Lent, begin on Ash Wednesday?
Since the church has never fasted on Sundays, the period must begin forty-six days before Easter. Although we may actually fast only on certain days, we consider the whole period a fast— except for the Sundays. They remain celebrations of the Resurrection.
Why is the day called "Ash" Wednesday?
It was a custom in the ancient church for those who were penitents to express their humiliation by dressing in sackPO cloth and covering themselves with ashes. By the sackcloth they ranked themselves among people in the lowest condition. The ashes reminded them of their mortality.