SPECIAL FEATURE: PESSAH AND EASTER
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THE TROPARION OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD
realm of a living World to Come. Resurrection is also shown in the haftarah [Prophetic portion] read in this week of Pessah by the Jewish Communities.
As Christian we proclaim a strong conviction : Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, indeed He is risen, which can be translated in diferent ways into Hebrew :
A] �HaMashiakh qam miveyn [or min] hametim, beemet qam.� Messiah came up from [from among] the dead, in truth He came [up].
B] HaMashiakh qam min hametim, akhen qam� Messiah came up from the dead, indeed [cf Arabic �aq�an�] He is risen�.
C] HaMashiakh qam min ha metim, beemet qam lehitkhiyah� Messiah rose from the dead, in truth he rose up to be revived from the dead.
Some Israeli-born people would prefer the second version which is similar the Arabic one, but then they may forget that �beemet� sounds very specific since Jesus is the Truth and the Life.
Some other believers think that the word �qam� basically refers to �come up, rise, but not to �to be resurrected to life� Therefore some communities have adopted �qam lehitkhiyah� He came up in order to revive. To give life anew�.
�Qam� refers to the Hebrew word �tequmah� = �resurrection� although the common word for �resurrection is �tekhiyah�. The expression which is daily used in the Jewish service �Khai veqayam� [Alive and Life-giving] and also used for the celebration of the new Month is very common in Hebrew. Fr. Bargil Pixner has also shown that, reversed it becomes �qam vekhay� and may apply to Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and gives life. He has also demonstrated that the ancient Zion Community might have had the Chrisma or XP in which the P [Greek �ro�] might have been a reversed qof for Qam and the X both referring to Khai Life Giving God who is risen from the dead [Qam].
Moreover, in Aramaic, �qyama� designates the Gospel, i.e. the Book of the Living Word.
Now, it is necessary to trace back the connection which exists between the Jewish background to such an exceptional troparion that sums up all the miracle of God.
In the 18 Blessings or �Shmoneh-Essre� benedictions, this assertation concerning the resurrection is very ancient and is dated from around 2500 years ago. Today, it is called �Gevurot� [God�s might] and is the second permanent blessing after the confession of the Only One God.. At present the text is in English :
�Atah Gibor Adonay� [You are mighty, o Lord], mekhayeh metim Atah [You resurrect the dead, or revive, revitalise, revigorate]". And it is repeated a certain number of times : �Who sustains the living with kindness, Who revivifies the dead [mekhayeh metim] with abundant mercy".
Certain words have been added to the kernel resurrection phrase :
�Who support the fallen [�somekh noflim�], and heals the sick [�rofeh kholim�], releases the prisoners, the confined [umattir assurim] and : �meqayem emunato lishney afar� = maintains His faith to those who sleep in the dust�. Which �dust�. A pious contemporary Jew will immediately relate this to the ancestors and, especially the first Patriarchs �Abraham, Isaac and Jacob� who with Sarah sleep in the dust of their tomb at Hebron.
This sources of this troparion are very significant for the Christian and the Jewish faiths. The link is natural since Resurrection and �life beyond life� or �hope beyond any hope� is the designing a rainbow beyond time, space, divisions and separations, focusing on what is always possible.
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