So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. We find we find eight days after Pascha the celebration of Pascha is repeated and doubled, which it seems why it is appropriate that this is presented to us by use of Thomas, “the twin”: This is represented in the tradition whereby Thomas’ encounter with the resurrected Christ is remembered the Sunday after Easter.
And then, every week, we come to the day after the Sabbath rest, Sunday, celebrating on it the glorious resurrection which occurred on the eighth day. Everything which came before it, all temporal creation, is brought into it to realize its eternal fulfillment.Įvery eight days, every Sunday, symbolically represents the same thing. But the new day is not like any other day. Christ’s resurrection from the dead brings with it all that came before it, transforming everything into something new, something greater than it ever was before. Pascha, Easter, is said to occur on the eighth day for this reason: it is the day after the Sabbath, the glorious eighth day which comes after the Sabbath rest. When we call it the eighth day, we point its transcendent nature, because a week has seven days.
It is the beginning of something new, even as it continues from what came before it. Thus, the first day of the week, Sunday, can also be described as the eighth day. If, however, we continue to count the days based upon the previous week, we would find the day after the Sabbath would be the eighth day. The next day, Sunday, begins a new week it is the first day of something new. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, the day of rest. Dionisius: Thomas Encounters Jesus On The Eighth Day / Wikimedia Commons
0 kommentar(er)
