Easter Sunday
The Resurrection of the Lord (Year B)
𝅘𝅥𝅯“Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!”𝅘𝅥𝅯
It’s one of the most popular hymns of the Easter Season. The odds are great that most Catholic and Protestant congregations will sing out this song today. The hymn perfectly fits the Easter Gospel of the Lord’s resurrection.
Those who encountered the Risen Lord that first Easter certainly proclaimed the song’s message to everyone they met. We might even picture them breaking into song. We can imagine John, who ran to the empty tomb and saw the burial clothes of Jesus, coming to believe, and then singing to himself “Jesus Christ is risen today!” as he retraced his steps.
We can imagine Mary Magdalene, whose heartbreak at the apparent theft of her Master’s body was transformed into elation when the Risen Lord spoke her name, singing with unstrained joy “Jesus Christ is risen today!”
We can imagine the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, who recognized the Risen Lord as he broke bread with them, becoming an Easter duet singing “Jesus Christ is risen today!” as they hurried back to Jerusalem.
We can imagine the group of frightened and confused disciples that Easter Sunday evening, who suddenly saw their crucified Lord standing before them, becoming a spirited choir singing out “Jesus Christ is risen today!”
Jesus Christ is risen today! Thanks be to God! That’s the good news for us this morning and every morning. Jesus Christ is risen today! We hear these words and we know that death did not win. We hear these words and we know that the time in the grave did not last.
Jesus Christ is Risen today! Rejoice! This is the day that the Lord has made! O Death, where now is your sting? O Grave, where now is your victory?
Jesus Christ is risen today! We say these words, we shout these words, we whole-heartedly lift our voices in song and in praise to sing these words, and we proclaim that Resurrection happens, continues to happen, and will continue to happen as a reality of our everyday life.
Jesus Christ is risen today! Thanks be to God! We hear these words and we find strength, we find comfort, we find hope. We know that the resurrection happened that morning all those years ago. And we know that the promise of the resurrection continues today.
Jesus Christ is risen today! We hear these words, and we find joy in knowing that the experience of the resurrection happens each and every moment of our lives because, in that moment of resurrection, we open ourselves up and encounter the healing presence of God in our lives!
Jesus Christ is risen today! Thanks be to God!
The experience of the Resurrection finds us each and every day. It finds us in the dark, hiding, hurting, grieving. It finds us in shadows - wounded and broken. It finds us in the gloom - lost and lonely. It finds us in darkness - hopeless and confused. Resurrection happens and Resurrection finds us!
What better news do we need right now? What better news does our world, our community, our nation need to hear right now? Resurrection happens! That’s the good news that we need to remember right now! Darkness did not win. Suffering did not win. Pain did not win. Darkness and death do not have the last word. Our wounds, that divide and separate us, our wounds from pandemic, poverty, pollution, racism, broken relationships, grief, anger, sorrow do not have the last word. God’s grace, God’s love, God’s hope, God’s life-giving presence have the last word. Jesus Christ is risen today. Thanks be to God!
Resurrection happens! In the light that is shining brightly on Easter morning, we see clearly and we realize that our God did not and does not intend for us to live a life of pain, to live a life of sorrow, to live a life of hurt, to live a life in the shadows. The Resurrection Light shows us that our God is loving, our God is steadfast, our God is gracious, our God is generous. Our God intends for all of His children, intends for you and me, to live a life of light, to live a life of grace, to live a life where we are made whole. Our God intends for us to live a life of peace, to live a life of hope, to live a life where we know that we are treasured, named and claimed.
Resurrection happens each and every moment of our days, each and every moment of our lives, each and every moment of our existence. Resurrection happens!
While most congregations will include "Jesus Christ is Risen Today!" among their hymns for Easter Sunday, a good number will stop singing it once today has passed. It seems that in the understanding of many, the “today” of the song refers only to the day the Lord broke the bonds of death and walked out of the tomb. However, that’s not the case nor is it the message of Easter. Easter proclaims that Jesus Christ IS risen and alive this day and every day since He appeared to Mary Magdalene, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and his disciples gathered in the Upper Room.
Our Easter faith that Jesus is alive and is risen makes this a “triumphant holy day” for us. It proclaims that we who have a relationship with him this day will continue to have a connection with him for days on end into eternity. Death will not have the final say in our life story.
"Jesus Christ is Risen today!" Let that be the song that you can’t get out of your head. Sing it to yourself! Find yourself humming it! Sing it out for all to hear! It's a hymn, not just for Easter Sunday, but for every day. It proclaims that the Lord lives and that we have life everlasting through him. Alleluia! We are the people of the resurrection. May we always celebrate the gift of new life, the gift of healing, the gift of transformation on this Easter morning and all the other mornings of our lives.
𝅘𝅥𝅯“Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!”𝅘𝅥𝅯
