In the Apostles Creed, as we have it in English, we profess that Jesus rose “again” from the dead. The Latin verb resurgere means to “rise again.” In Greek, in which language the Creed was originally written, the compound word anastasis (resurrection) literally comes from ana/histemi which means “to stand again” or “rise again.”
There was, of course, only one Resurrection of Our Lord. So, what does “again” mean?
To explain, I must refer to Greek, the language of inspiration. There are two words in Greek that can each mean “again.” The more common is palin. The other word is kainos. Although the Apostles Creed does not use either word, as the “again” is in the prefix of the Greek verb anastemi (to rise again), Our Lord does use an Aramaic word, which is translated under divine inspiration as the Greek adverb kainos, in His address to the Apostles at the Last Supper: “And I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new (kainon) in the kingdom of my Father” (Matt. 26:29). And, thusly, too, is the same word used in many other verses such as in “And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new (kaina)” (Apoc. 21:5).
It is in this sense that the word “again” can be understood in the Apostles Creed. “And on the third day He arose anew from the dead.” “Anew,” as in glorified. So, too, did He promise the Apostles that in the kingdom of His Father they would drink the “fruit of the vine” anew, in the state of glory, after the resurrection of the body at the Last Day.
Could this be a reference to a Holy Communion for the blessed in heaven after the resurrection? A Communion that would last forever? — Not as a sacrament, because the sacraments are only for this mortal life, but as a Reality, in Vision, of an everlasting Communion in the Body of Christ. Could this Holy Communion be the Principle, as Cause, of the glorification of the body after the resurrection?
Could this be the meaning, as well, of the promise regarding the Tree of Life that the Alpha and the Omega gave to those of the Church of Ephesus who overcome temptation and trials: “To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God” (Apoc. 2: 7)?
