Creation Days, Conclusion: The Eighth Day (morning)

"And there was morning."

+

The eighth day is new first, third and seventh day, drawing the three together into a single cord. While Christ was entombed until the third day, it was the eighth day (the first day of a new week) that He was raised. The symbols of the first and third days of creation are married together, Light and Holy Sacrament mingled in the Body of the risen Christ. And as the new week begins, the evening of the seventh day is superseded by the morning of the eighth, the image of the former being fulfilled in the latter. This is the basis for the Lord's Day sabbath; it is the day on which the Sun of Righteousness shines Light the world, giving Himself as the Bread of Life and offering to all participation in His eternal rest.

+

On this day, the single thread found in all the stories of nature and man, beginning with Adam and repeating throughout all times in all places forever, is finally made transparent. The reason why all plants wither in winter and burst forth in spring; why foxes retreat into their holes and birds to their nests, then return to the world renewed; why the sun is consumed by night then raised again. The reason why Eve's son was given life even after Adam's transgression welcomed death; why Abraham was told to give his son for sacrifice and given a ram in his stead; why Joseph was thrown into the depths before he was raised to a king; why Moses had to pass through the waters but reached the other side unscathed; why Job's kingdom was razed to ruins before it was doubled; why David was a man of the wilderness before he was given his kingdom; why Daniel was rescued unharmed from the lion's den, the youths from the fire, and Jonah from the fish's mouth. These all reveal the same image in different frames: that death must precede life, that suffering must precede glory. Christ's death and resurrection therefore is not only the means by which He accomplished salvation for mankind, but also His ultimate expression as Divine Logos and Wisdom, embodying in Himself the hidden reality imbedded in all creation and history, that mankind may see and know the Eternal Truth.

Part 12 of 12 of the Creation Days series