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“The Resurrection of Lazarus”/ Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Annunciation, Father Harallamb Gjoka: Where God is, there is life

2026-04-04 11:04:00, Aktualitet CNA

“The Resurrection of Lazarus”/ Divine Liturgy at the Church of the

For all Orthodox believers, today is Lazarus Saturday, the Resurrection of Lazarus. On this occasion, the Morning Service and Divine Liturgy were held today at the "Evangelization" Orthodox Church in Tirana.

Father Harallamb Gjoka, during his sermon before the believers present, emphasized that during the three years of Christ's public mission, miracles have occurred that humanity had never seen before.

Among other things, Father Harallamb Gjoka states that where Christ is, there is no more death, because He Himself is life.

Excerpt from the sermon:

Today, in today's Gospel, the Lord Christ is at the end, in the last week of his mission on earth. Three years. Three years of his public mission. Three years filled with teachings, three years filled with miracles. And not just miracles of healing, but we are talking about miracles that humanity had never seen before: the resurrection of the dead.

The Lord Christ raised the dead. Not only him, but also his disciples. In the name of Christ, the Gospel tells us that even the disciples of Christ at the time of Christ, when he sent them to spread the word, raised the dead. And they were very surprised that all these miracles were happening in his name.

And now, today Christ is in a city three days away from Jerusalem. And he was in that city hidden, because his fame was so widespread that the leaders of Jerusalem and especially those of religion, the leaders who were connected with religion, wanted to have him killed. They had made the decision, "let's just find out where he is, that we will find a way and a reason to kill him."

And Christ was hidden as if persecuted, not because he was afraid, but because he was waiting for what God had planned, the will of God, to happen. That throughout Christ's mission, the Gospel of John tells us, Christ emphasizes: "Father, with my life I glorify you, and you with what happens around me glorify me." And Christ always did the will of the Father.

And wherever he was in this city, delegates from his beloved family, the family of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, of the house of Simon the Pharisee, come and announce it. As our tradition says, Lazarus was a Pharisee – Orthodox tradition says that Lazarus was a Pharisee because his father was also a Pharisee, he was Simon the Pharisee.

And they tell him that Lazarus, your friend, is sick to death.

"And if you leave now, you will most likely not find him alive." While Christ heard this, Christ, who knew where this situation was leading, did not leave immediately. He waited until Lazarus died.

The Lord Christ waited until Lazarus died. And when Lazarus died, he knew as God when Lazarus died, he said to his disciples: "Get up, for we are going now to the house of Lazarus, for my friend has fallen asleep."

The Lord Christ ironizes in a way our greatest fear, death. He calls it sleep. He ironizes that which when we hear it we tremble, and he ironizes that he is the resurrection, he is the life. Where he is, there is no more death, and all who are with him do not taste death.

And when they go there, Lazarus' sisters come out and say to him: "Lord, if you had been here, this would not have happened to our brother". We know very well that you have the power to heal the sick, but they were not convinced about raising the dead. They were not convinced that you can raise the dead, even those who have been dead for four days. Lazarus for four days. The process of decay had begun, not just dead, the decomposition of the body had begun.

And the Lord Christ then affirms, one of the strongest affirmations we have in the Gospel and John preserves it, that: "I am the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in me will never die." And he turns to him and says: "Do you believe this?"

That faith is that power, the key where you receive life from Christ. Your faith. That's why he says: "I have the power of resurrection, I have the power of life, but if you don't believe, my power makes zero. It is very important that you believe in order to receive from me". / CNA