Up from the grave He arose!!!!!

 
Jesus has Risen! 

1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) 

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead....."

Up From the Grave He Arose
(a hymn by Robert Lowry)
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

(Refrain)

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

I can hear my parents singing that hymn on each side of me in every Easter Sunday service I can remember. The words ring in my mind. It's one of those things that stick with you. Easter is very special to me, for obvious reasons.

You remember Barabbas? (If you don't, you can read the full story here.)
He had murdered. He was a criminal.
I saw him in a different light after I read a poem written in his point of view; a poem that a 12-year-old wrote and sent in to Focus on the Family's Clubhouse magazine. Unfortunately, the issue that contained it is either lost or in the garbage somewhere, and I don't know the author's name or the exact wording to the last lines... but this is close:

"Then the guard released me and said:
"You can go: Jesus has taken your place." "

I never really thought about how that situation was an allegory. Jesus was blameless, and Barabas was a murderer.

But Jesus was crucified in his place.

He died in our place.

************

Well, speaking of hymns and Easter, another one of my favorite hymns is "For the Beauty of the Earth". In the 1994 Little Women, everyone holds hands, forms a circle around the newlyweds Meg and John and they sing that hymn.
Here's the clip. (Fast forward the first minute and 50 seconds if you want to get to it right away.)



Happy Easter!

(Here's yet another of my favorites: "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" by Charles Wesley himself, or at least parts of it.... and a lovely Easter lily)

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!