If, then, it is by the sign of the cross and by faith in Christ that death is trampled underfoot, it is clear that it is Christ Himself and none other Who is the Archvictor over death and has robbed it of its power.
Death used to be strong and terrible, but now, since the sojourn of the Savior and the death and resurrection of His body, it is despised; and obviously it is by the very Christ Who mounted on the cross that it has been destroyed and vanquished finally.
When the sun rises after night and the whole region of the earth is illuminated by it, no one doubts that the sun which spread its light everywhere also drove away the darkness and enlightened all things. In the same way, since death has been despised and trampled underfoot from the time of the Savior’s saving manifestation in a body and His death on the Cross, it is clear that the Savior Who appeared in the body is Himself the One Who abolished death and daily displays trophies of victory over it in His own disciples.
How can you think otherwise, when you see men naturally weak hastening to death, unafraid at the prospect of corruption, fearless of the descent into Hades, even indeed with eager soul provoking it, not shrinking from tortures, but preferring thus to rush on death for Christ's sake, rather than to remain in this present life? If you see with your own eyes men and women and children, even, thus welcoming death for the sake of Christ's religion, how can you be so utterly silly and incredulous and maimed in your mind as not to realize that Christ, to Whom these all bear witness, Himself gives the victory to each, making death completely powerless for those who hold His faith and bear the sign of the cross?
Someone who sees a serpent being trampled underfoot, especially if he knows how fierce it once was, no longer doubts that it is dead and has completely lost its strength—unless his mind is perverted and even his bodily senses are unsound. And who, seeing a lion mocked by children, fails to understand that it is either dead or has lost all its power?
Just as the truth of these examples can be seen with the eyes, so, when death is mocked and despised by those who believe in Christ, no one should continue to doubt or disbelieve that death has been abolished by Christ and that its corruption has been dissolved and brought to an end.