"Biblical scholars are well aware of the fact that Jesus celebrated the Passover and that his celebration of this Mosaic festival must shape our understanding of the Lord’s Supper. But while these scholars stress the salvific significance of Passover, they virtually ignore its important eschatological background." —Noel Rabinowitz
While Orthodox Christian theology is keenly aware of this connection, it is forgotten more and more by priests, bishops and laity alike. The liturgy is clearly eschatological.
Its connection with “Passover – Pascha” is clear in our theology, and yet the Greek church in particular seems dedicated to abolishing the concept of “Pascha” (replacing even the name with “Easter” in place of Pascha – the Passover of Christ) and paying only elitist theological attention to the eschatological reality of the liturgy.
The liturgy directly connects the creation narrative with the idea of the second coming of Christ and Transfiguration. The liturgy is the wedding banquet of the heavenly bridegroom with the earthly bride. The altar is a type of paradise in which the tree of life is to be found.
This is why we should not succumb to the convenience of are trying to Holy Pascha as “Easter”. Pascha is a dogmatic expression which unveils the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice and the very life of the church. Death has “passed over – Pascha” us through Jesus Christ, just as through Moses, death passed over the Hebrews in Egypt.
Salvation consists in this: Christ ransomed us from the fear of death, and thus redeemed us from the power of Satan. Since He was our “Paschal Lamb,” He was not a substitutionary sacrifice, but something much higher.
It really is important to maintain the concept of Pascha, and to grasp that the Divine liturgy presents us with the fruit of the tree of life that grew in paradise – a prophecy about the cross, and the Revelation that Christ himself is the fruit of the tree of life, just as the cross is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The liturgy is a heavenly banquet. Notice that not once in the liturgy do we mention any concept of “Hell”, damnation or punishment, but only resurrection, life, a victory over death, hope and expectation of paradise.
This is why I hold that it is a sin to close the doors of the altar during the liturgy, except perhaps for the priest’s communion. For Christ has risen from the dead, opening the gates of Paradise, which shall never be closed again. The altar is a visible Revelation of paradise. We are led out of bondage to the spiritual Pharaoh, through the Red Sea of baptism into the glorious freedom of God’s children. We are children of the promise, not of the law.
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