The Power of Christianity and the Abolition of the Impossible
The Power of Christianity and the Abolition of the Impossible
We can learn from the Resurrection of the Lord Christ an important lesson: that there is nothing difficult and nothing impossible…
The Resurrection was difficult or impossible in the eyes of people, for it had never happened before that someone rose by himself without another raising him. But nothing is hard for God: Christ rose in power, while the tomb was closed and a great stone was upon it…
Who would have thought…!
The Resurrection was power, reminding us of the Scripture: “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” This power astonished the Apostle Paul, and he said about the Lord: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.”
The Lord granted us this power of His Resurrection. Thus, “all things are possible to him who believes.” And in this regard, the Apostle Paul said: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”…
Now we see nothing difficult or impossible after the Lord trampled death, granted us victory over it, opened for us the closed door of Paradise, and placed in our mouths that beautiful hymn: “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?!”
The power of the Resurrection gave the disciples courage and boldness in preaching.
Who would have thought that those weak men hiding in the upper room could proclaim the Gospel with complete boldness without hindrance?! Who would have thought that twelve men, most of them ignorant fishermen, could bring Christianity to all the regions of the inhabited world…
But the Resurrection taught us that there is nothing impossible…
With God, all things are possible… It is possible that the foolish things of the world may put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world may put to shame the strong…
It seemed very difficult for Christianity to stand against paganism, against ancient religions whose roots were firmly established in people’s beliefs, against Judaism which tried either to eliminate Christianity or absorb it, against the philosophies prevailing at that time, and against the Roman Empire with all its tyranny and armed power.
It seemed difficult for Christianity to stand against all these forces and triumph over them… But the power they received from the Resurrection of Christ and His victory over death gave them a wondrous energy…
Who would have thought that Peter the ignorant fisherman could, by a single sermon, convert three thousand Jews to the Christian faith?!
A well-known preacher can hardly convert, by one sermon, a few sinners to repentance. But to change the religion of 3000 people through one sermon seems like imagination…
Yet it was the power that the apostles received from the Holy Spirit, which changed them before it changed the people… and it continued working with them in miracles.
Who would have thought that these apostles would go to foreign lands where there was not a single Christian, nor any resources for ministry, begin from zero, and convert them to Christianity…?!
But the Resurrection of Christ taught us that there is nothing difficult or impossible, for all things are possible to the believer…
Who would have thought that Saul of Tarsus, the greatest persecutor of Christianity in his time, would become Paul, the greatest apostle who preached Christ…?!
Who would have thought that the centurion, the commander of the soldiers who crucified Christ, would believe in Christianity, be martyred for it, and become a saint?!
Who would have thought that the thief on the right would believe while on the cross?!
And who would have thought that the wife of Pilate the governor would believe and send to her husband pleading on behalf of “this righteous Man”?
But by grace everything becomes possible. God is able to do all things. He who conquered the most dangerous enemy—death—nothing is difficult for Him. Everything is easy before Him…
Who would have thought that Mary Magdalene, who had seven demons, would become a preacher and announce the Resurrection to the apostles?!
But the power of the Resurrection made us certain that nothing is impossible…
As we saw this in preaching, we also saw it in repentance: the power that transformed the greatest sinners into the greatest saints—not merely into repentant people—taught us that nothing is impossible…
The utmost people expected was that the immoral Augustine might repent; but that he would become a saint whose meditations benefit generations, this was something difficult that no one expected. The same can be said about the transformation of Moses the Black, the harsh murderer, into a meek and humble saint!
Nothing is difficult for God. Is He not the One who said:
“Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!” (Zech 4:7)… God who makes “the barren woman a joyful mother of children,” who says to her: “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne… Enlarge the place of your tent… For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit nations and make the desolate cities inhabited” (Isa 54:1–3).
The Birth of Christ, as well as His Resurrection, were wondrous events proving that there is no impossibility… So also were His miracles…
The very act of the Incarnation seemed impossible in people’s eyes!! How could God empty Himself and take the form of a servant?!
How could a virgin conceive without human seed and give birth?!
Likewise, the Resurrection was an impossible matter. Therefore the Jews feared its occurrence and considered it for them “worse than the first deception”!!
Yet the Incarnation happened, the birth from a Virgin occurred, and the self-Resurrection took place…
Christianity is not a religion of weakness; it is a religion of power. It grants man wondrous energies and abolishes the word “impossible”…
Christianity is a religion of power:
There is no difficulty in Christianity, no despair, no failure; rather, in it is: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”…
Among the things that seem difficult in Christianity are the cross and the narrow gate. Yet Christians carried the cross and entered through the narrow gate, chanting the words of the apostle: “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
Yes, how difficult—in the eyes of the world—is turning the other cheek, going the second mile, loving enemies, and selling all one has to give to the poor… How difficult it is to follow a religion that calls to asceticism and renunciation… Yet this religion that appears difficult spread everywhere, and people entered into its asceticism with full will; they even longed for suffering, longed for martyrdom, and made the cross their emblem…
The difficult commandment in Christianity carries within it the power to fulfill it…
Christianity presented to humanity lofty ideals and sublime commandments, but at the same time it provided spiritual ability and the help of grace to walk in these ideals with ease and even with delight…
It offered people the life of the Spirit, and with this life it granted the Holy Spirit to dwell in man and give him power to walk according to the Spirit…
The commandments of Christianity seem difficult to one who is outside, who does not live in grace and has not yet entered into the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. But to the believer, these difficult commandments become a desire and spiritual pleasure, and he finds no difficulty in them…
The believer puts on “the whole armor of God,” with which he fights and overcomes. He is completely certain that he does not stand alone in spiritual struggle. He believes that “the battle is the Lord’s,” and that God is able to save by many or by few. He always feels that a divine power accompanies him and works with him…
Therefore the life of the believer is a continual victory, for God “leads him in triumphal procession”… “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace”…
He who feels failure has not yet experienced grace, nor tested God’s work within him and with him… How marvelous is the Lord’s saying to His disciples concerning miracles:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do” (John 14:12).
Christianity is a religion of power: it began with the power of the Resurrection, which triumphed over death, opened the gates of Hades, led captivity captive, and brought the righteous into Paradise. Then we saw the power of preaching and the power of endurance in martyrdom.
With great power the apostles bore witness. With power they stood before rulers and spoke without hindrance. Stephen silenced three councils; “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.”
Thus “the word of the Lord grew, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly,” by the power of signs, by the power of the word, and by the power of a heart that endured the sword and fire. A power with which they were clothed from on high. As the Lord said to them: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me.”
It is a power in which God gave them authority over all demons and over all the power of the enemy, and gave them the keys of heaven and earth. There was power in their prayers that shook the place, and power from the angels surrounding them who broke their chains and brought them out of prison.
Thus there was a power within them and another power surrounding them…
It is a power that caused paganism to perish and disappear—the power of unarmed Christianity that defeated a heavily armed empire which surrendered and embraced Christianity… the power of the cross which they thought was a sign of weakness, but was a source of power and glory.
The Christian is a strong person: in his spirit and in his morale, he fears nothing. His strength is not derived from himself but from the Spirit of God.
The unarmed Christ was feared by Pilate, who desired to release Him. And Paul the prisoner, when he spoke about judgment, caused Felix the governor to tremble before him.
It is the power of Christ who said: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” It is the power of ascetic, renouncing hearts that overcame all the desires of the world in a holy life that astonished people and terrified Satan.
It is the power that appears in Augustine’s words: “I sat upon the summit of the world when I felt within myself that I desired nothing and feared nothing.” The power of detachment, renunciation, and purity.
If we live in the joys of the Resurrection, let us live in its power. Let us overcome death—the death of sin—so that we may rise in the Resurrection of the righteous.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year Seven (Issue Nineteen) – 7-5-1976.
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