Sin has killed me and buried me in a tomb until I decayed; can God still accept my repentance?

St. John Chrysostom says that the devil exerts every effort to portray sin as an attractive and an easy thing to do. But after we fall and desire to return to God, he then portrays the way of repentance to be difficult. The evil one fills us with despair so that we should not return to our Christ, who is the door of repentance, its way, and its end. Let us not be troubled, for even if we are unable to come to Christ, He comes to us and carries us to His heavens and His kingdom. If the Lord of Glory revived Lazarus, who had died and decayed, would it be difficult for Him to heal our wounds?

How wonderful is St. Jacob of Sarug’s image of the sinner, who appears to be crippled and injured, but Christ grants him His own legs to walk on. Christ carries him on His shoulders and walks with Him so that he should not deviate left or right. He says, “O you sinner, flee and take refuge in repentance for he who does not enter willingly, it forces him to enter … if sin killed you and your tomb was shut before your face, He will raise you even if you have decayed like Lazarus. He who can revive the dead, what wounds would be too difficult for Him to heal, except only those that you did not ask for? … If you sin, He does not rebuke you for He is full of mercy. He rebukes you only if you do not repent … If the sinner repents, he becomes of more splendor than all the saints, for the Shepherd carries him on His shoulders, and does not carry the others. For this reason, he becomes more beautiful because when you look at him, you see the Shepherd too.”

“O you the lamb, take for yourself the Shepherd’s legs and come into the sheepfold for your legs were broken because of sin. Who is he, from the fallen, who rejects such love! Except the one who hates his own self and does not remember it … for if he, who has fallen, was not supported with hope, how will he rise and attain perfection?”