Easter Day
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VIII, Cycle B
Theme For The Day
The good news of resurrection beckons us to follow after the risen Lord.
Old Testament Lesson
Isaiah 25:6-9
No More Tears
A visionary poem about a great mountain, atop which the Lord will one day offer a great banquet of the richest foods and finest drink: "And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces ..." (vv. 7-8a).
The imagery is striking, and appropriate indeed for Easter. The passage is reminiscent of 2:1-4, in which the nations likewise are portrayed as streaming to Zion, the mountain of the Lord. In chapter 2, however, they are coming to the mountain to be judged. Here, in chapter 25, they are coming to be comforted. The veil that is spread over the nations should not be read as a lack of understanding, but rather as the universal experience of suffering.
Alternate First Lesson
Acts 10:34-43
Peter's Easter Testimony
Here in chapter 10, Peter has just been approached by the centurion Cornelius, a Gentile adherent of Judaism, who is interested in hearing the gospel. Cornelius' way has been prepared before him by the Holy Spirit, through which Peter has received a vision of a gospel belonging to all people (vv. 9-16). This passage contains Peter's address to Cornelius and to the gathered community of disciples, in which he shares his vision and proclaims his new conviction "that God shows no partiality" (v. 34). Peter delivers a mini-sermon in which he shares the essential proclamation about Jesus Christ -- part of which is that, "We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day ..." (vv. 39-40a).
New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul's Easter Testimony
Just as in chapter 11, when he shares the words of institution of the Lord's Supper, here Paul once again "hands on" important traditions. This is the Pauline equivalent of Peter's sermon in Acts 10: a digest of the essential Christian message, which contains, at its heart, the good news "that [Christ] was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time ..." (vv. 4b-6a). It's possible that these verses are the text of an early creed. Paul carries the story forward to encompass his own experience, his own calling as an apostle: "Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me" (v. 8) -- the phrase, "one untimely born," translates an especially coarse and earthy Greek term that essentially means "miscarried fetus," and witnesses to Paul's profound ambivalence about the life he led before coming to Christian faith. "But by the grace of God," he affirms, "I am what I am" (v. 10a). Paul's very life story bears witness to the power of the resurrection.
Alternate New Testament Lesson
Acts 10:34-43
Peter's Easter Testimony
The Alternate First Lesson (see above) may also be used as an alternate New Testament Lesson.
The Gospel
John 20:1-18
Mary Magdalene Meets Her Lord In The Garden
The first of two possible Gospel Lessons is the most famous of the resurrection narratives: the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the risen Jesus outside the empty tomb. In pre-dawn darkness, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and finds it empty. She alerts Peter, who -- along with another disciple, "the one whom Jesus loved" (possibly John himself) -- runs to the tomb, observes the carefully rolled up graveclothes, and goes back home in awe and wonder with his companion in tow (vv. 6-10). The weeping Mary remains, however -- she apparently believes the grave has been robbed, despite the rolled up head-cloth -- and discovers within the tomb a pair of angels, who ask her why she is weeping. Their appearance is evidently ordinary enough that she does not recognize them as angels at first. Then, Mary is blessed with the first encounter with the risen Jesus. She does not recognize Jesus at first -- whether it is because of her tears or because his post-resurrection appearance is somehow different is unclear. It is only when he speaks her name that she recognizes him. "Do not hold on to me," he warns, "because I have not yet ascended to the Father" (v. 12). A Latin Vulgate mistranslation (noli me tangere, "do not touch me") has led some to speculate that Jesus' post-resurrection body was qualitatively different from ordinary human flesh in some way, but more likely, this phrase means that he has urgent things to accomplish in the short time before his ascension, and therefore cannot linger. Mary Magdalene finds her fellow disciples and announces, "I have seen the Lord" -- making her the first Christian preacher. There is no credible biblical evidence, by the way, for the early medieval church tradition that Mary Magdalene had been a woman of low morals before becoming a follower of Jesus. Too many Easter sermons have played on this lurid and false speculation, besmirching the reputation of this great Christian leader, the apostola apostolorum -- "apostle to the apostles."
Alternate Gospel Lesson
Mark 16:1-8
Into Galilee ...
This is the "year of Mark" in the lectionary, so it is appropriate that one of the Gospel Lesson options is Mark's account of the resurrection. This account, which ends abruptly at verse 8 with the words, "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid," caused considerable consternation in the early church. Other accounts of Jesus' resurrection had been circulating, and it seemed odd to Mark's readers that he would end his gospel without including any of these -- and, furthermore, without presenting any evidence of the resurrection at all except for the empty tomb. There are two alternate endings to Mark, but strong linguistic and textual evidence suggests that they were added in some later manuscripts. They are a second part of verse 8 (the "shorter ending") and verses 9-19 (the "longer ending"). So why does Mark end his story so abruptly? Very possibly, it is for dramatic effect: he wants to leave the line, "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid," resonating in his readers' minds, as an encouragement not to do the same thing. In the prior verse, an angel has just said, "But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." The implication is that the good news of resurrection is an urgent call to action: those who hear it are to get themselves "to Galilee" -- to witnessing in the world -- without delay.
Preaching Possibilities
Among the various gospel accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, there is considerable confusion as to detail. The gospel writers are not at all consistent in their reporting. It's almost as though they are at a loss to explain it. In one place, we read of the risen Lord walking through walls; yet elsewhere -- even in the same gospel, John -- we hear that his flesh is substantial enough for Mary to cling to and for Thomas to touch. Luke makes it a point to tell us how he ate a piece of fish. Scripture clearly declares that the risen Lord is the same Jesus; yet even his closest friends have a hard time recognizing him. Most definitely he is Jesus, but he's different somehow: he is perfected, complete.
Then there are the accounts of Peter and Paul -- not narrative accounts, as in the gospels, but rather testimony from witnesses. Acts records Peter's declaration: "We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day...." Even Paul, who never met Jesus before his resurrection, met him afterwards, on the Damascus Road: "Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me." Sure, it wasn't the typical way to meet the risen Jesus -- but is there ever a typical way to meet a man risen from the dead? "By the grace of God," Paul affirms, "I am what I am."
Of all the accounts of Jesus' resurrection, though, it is the simple story of Mark's that is the most innocent, the most direct -- and, in its own way, the most beguiling. Mark provides no eyewitness accounts from those who have met the risen Lord. There's just an empty tomb, and an angel saying, "He's gone from here." For Mark, the central feature of the story seems to be the angel's command: Go. Go and tell the disciples and Peter. Go and follow the risen Lord to Galilee. Go and share with all who will hear it this glorious news that death has been vanquished forever, that Jesus who was crucified now reigns triumphant.
It is Mark's account that is closest to our own, modern-day experience. No one in the church today has embraced Jesus, as Mary Magdalene did, or put their finger in his side, as Thomas did. All that is left to us are the stories, the testimony. That, and the command of the angel: Go. Go to Galilee. There he awaits you.
The same will be true for our Easter congregations. Let us share the good news with them: yet as we do so, let us not fail to share the angel's command as well. Along with the glorious Easter proclamation "He is risen!" there is the instruction of the angel to go and leave the place where we presently are, in our spiritual lives: to venture out and see if the risen Lord does indeed meet us.
To set out on a journey is a risk, to be sure. It's the risk called faith. But it's a risk worth taking.
Prayer For The Day
Great are you, O God, and greatly to be praised! For you have raised your son, Jesus, from the dead, vanquishing every power of darkness. He has gone before us into Galilee: give us the courage, the conviction and the inquisitive faith to follow him there. Amen.
To Illustrate
One of the new and different amusements this computer age has brought to our culture is "interactive entertainment." On computer blogs and bulletin boards, people sometimes write murder mysteries together, as a community effort. One person writes the first chapter, another the second, and so on -- with no one knowing exactly how it's all going to turn out, until it does.
A few years back, Hollywood produced a movie, Clue, based on the same principle. Based on the popular murder-mystery board game, the film had three or four separate endings. When the time for the final scene arrived, the audience -- equipped (in at least some theaters) with computer keypads -- got to vote on which ending they wanted. They got to decide which suspect had committed the murder.
Interactivity is the principle behind all computer and video games. Players impact the story by what they punch into the keyboard, or how they wiggle the joystick. Every game session is, by definition, different from the last.
There's an interactive story in the Bible. It's Mark's account of Jesus' resurrection. It ends abruptly because what happens next is up to the readers to decide.
***
The great composer of operas, Puccini, died suddenly before he had a chance to finish his final work, Turandot. One of his fellow-composers, Franco Alfano, wrote two final scenes that completed the story. When the opera premiered at Milan's La Scala opera house in 1926, the famous Arturo Toscanini was the conductor. Toscanini got to the place where Puccini had left off, and he stopped the performance. With tears in his eyes, he turned to the audience and announced, "This is where the master ends." Then he raised his baton again and said, "This is where his friends continue." And he concluded the performance.
***
Thomas Jefferson also came up with a short ending to the Easter story -- though for very different reasons than Mark. Jefferson, the rationalist, could not accept scripture's miraculous events, so he edited his own version of the New Testament with all supernatural references removed. The emphasis in Jefferson's Bible is on moral teachings: Jesus is an eastern sage, teaching kindness and justice. Jefferson's gospel account closes with these words: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed."
Mark's short ending points us in a very different direction.
***
Canadian preacher and writer Ralph Milton has written:
One of the fundamental things about Christ's resurrection is that we can't argue anyone into believing it. We can offer a whole bunch of circumstantial evidence, but when push comes to shove, there is no proof. That's because we can't prove love.
Ralph goes on to testify how certain he is of the love he shares with Bev, his wife of forty years:
If you were a psychiatrist, you might say we've got a co-dependent relationship. If you were a sociologist, you might say we're living out our gender roles. If you were an accountant, you might say there is a financial advantage in sticking together. And all would be true, to a degree. But proof of love? There is no such thing. At least, not scientific proof. But if you believe, then you know. If you believe, then it becomes the central fact of your life. If you believe, you can see no other fundamental reality.
***
Many years ago, a friend told me that his young son was a great fan of both Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers. The boy faithfully watched both of their television shows, and one day it was announced that Mister Rogers would be paying a visit to the Captain Kangaroo show. The boy was ecstatic. Both of his heroes, together on the same show! Every morning the boy would ask, "Is it today that Mister Rogers will be on Captain Kangaroo?" Finally the great day arrived, and the whole family gathered around the television. There they were, Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo together. The boy watched for a minute, but then, surprisingly, got up and wandered from the room.
Puzzled, his father followed him and asked, "What is it, son? Is anything wrong?"
"It's too good," the boy replied. "It's just too good."
Maybe that's it. Maybe the news of the empty tomb, the news of the resurrection, the news of Jesus' victory over death is just too good to believe, too good to assimilate all at once.
-- Thomas G. Long, "Empty Tomb, Empty Talk," in The Christian Century, April 4, 2001, p. 11
***
On the third day, the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realised the new wonder; but even they hardly realised that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.
-- G. K. Chesterton
***
Let no one fear Death, for the Savior's death has set us free!
He that was taken by Death has annihilated it.
He descended into Hell, and took Hell captive!...
"O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?"
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the Angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and Life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the tombs!
For Christ being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that slept.
To him be glory and dominion through all the ages of ages!
-- Easter acclamation of John Chrysostom (paraphrased)
The good news of resurrection beckons us to follow after the risen Lord.
Old Testament Lesson
Isaiah 25:6-9
No More Tears
A visionary poem about a great mountain, atop which the Lord will one day offer a great banquet of the richest foods and finest drink: "And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces ..." (vv. 7-8a).
The imagery is striking, and appropriate indeed for Easter. The passage is reminiscent of 2:1-4, in which the nations likewise are portrayed as streaming to Zion, the mountain of the Lord. In chapter 2, however, they are coming to the mountain to be judged. Here, in chapter 25, they are coming to be comforted. The veil that is spread over the nations should not be read as a lack of understanding, but rather as the universal experience of suffering.
Alternate First Lesson
Acts 10:34-43
Peter's Easter Testimony
Here in chapter 10, Peter has just been approached by the centurion Cornelius, a Gentile adherent of Judaism, who is interested in hearing the gospel. Cornelius' way has been prepared before him by the Holy Spirit, through which Peter has received a vision of a gospel belonging to all people (vv. 9-16). This passage contains Peter's address to Cornelius and to the gathered community of disciples, in which he shares his vision and proclaims his new conviction "that God shows no partiality" (v. 34). Peter delivers a mini-sermon in which he shares the essential proclamation about Jesus Christ -- part of which is that, "We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day ..." (vv. 39-40a).
New Testament Lesson
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul's Easter Testimony
Just as in chapter 11, when he shares the words of institution of the Lord's Supper, here Paul once again "hands on" important traditions. This is the Pauline equivalent of Peter's sermon in Acts 10: a digest of the essential Christian message, which contains, at its heart, the good news "that [Christ] was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time ..." (vv. 4b-6a). It's possible that these verses are the text of an early creed. Paul carries the story forward to encompass his own experience, his own calling as an apostle: "Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me" (v. 8) -- the phrase, "one untimely born," translates an especially coarse and earthy Greek term that essentially means "miscarried fetus," and witnesses to Paul's profound ambivalence about the life he led before coming to Christian faith. "But by the grace of God," he affirms, "I am what I am" (v. 10a). Paul's very life story bears witness to the power of the resurrection.
Alternate New Testament Lesson
Acts 10:34-43
Peter's Easter Testimony
The Alternate First Lesson (see above) may also be used as an alternate New Testament Lesson.
The Gospel
John 20:1-18
Mary Magdalene Meets Her Lord In The Garden
The first of two possible Gospel Lessons is the most famous of the resurrection narratives: the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the risen Jesus outside the empty tomb. In pre-dawn darkness, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb and finds it empty. She alerts Peter, who -- along with another disciple, "the one whom Jesus loved" (possibly John himself) -- runs to the tomb, observes the carefully rolled up graveclothes, and goes back home in awe and wonder with his companion in tow (vv. 6-10). The weeping Mary remains, however -- she apparently believes the grave has been robbed, despite the rolled up head-cloth -- and discovers within the tomb a pair of angels, who ask her why she is weeping. Their appearance is evidently ordinary enough that she does not recognize them as angels at first. Then, Mary is blessed with the first encounter with the risen Jesus. She does not recognize Jesus at first -- whether it is because of her tears or because his post-resurrection appearance is somehow different is unclear. It is only when he speaks her name that she recognizes him. "Do not hold on to me," he warns, "because I have not yet ascended to the Father" (v. 12). A Latin Vulgate mistranslation (noli me tangere, "do not touch me") has led some to speculate that Jesus' post-resurrection body was qualitatively different from ordinary human flesh in some way, but more likely, this phrase means that he has urgent things to accomplish in the short time before his ascension, and therefore cannot linger. Mary Magdalene finds her fellow disciples and announces, "I have seen the Lord" -- making her the first Christian preacher. There is no credible biblical evidence, by the way, for the early medieval church tradition that Mary Magdalene had been a woman of low morals before becoming a follower of Jesus. Too many Easter sermons have played on this lurid and false speculation, besmirching the reputation of this great Christian leader, the apostola apostolorum -- "apostle to the apostles."
Alternate Gospel Lesson
Mark 16:1-8
Into Galilee ...
This is the "year of Mark" in the lectionary, so it is appropriate that one of the Gospel Lesson options is Mark's account of the resurrection. This account, which ends abruptly at verse 8 with the words, "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid," caused considerable consternation in the early church. Other accounts of Jesus' resurrection had been circulating, and it seemed odd to Mark's readers that he would end his gospel without including any of these -- and, furthermore, without presenting any evidence of the resurrection at all except for the empty tomb. There are two alternate endings to Mark, but strong linguistic and textual evidence suggests that they were added in some later manuscripts. They are a second part of verse 8 (the "shorter ending") and verses 9-19 (the "longer ending"). So why does Mark end his story so abruptly? Very possibly, it is for dramatic effect: he wants to leave the line, "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid," resonating in his readers' minds, as an encouragement not to do the same thing. In the prior verse, an angel has just said, "But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." The implication is that the good news of resurrection is an urgent call to action: those who hear it are to get themselves "to Galilee" -- to witnessing in the world -- without delay.
Preaching Possibilities
Among the various gospel accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, there is considerable confusion as to detail. The gospel writers are not at all consistent in their reporting. It's almost as though they are at a loss to explain it. In one place, we read of the risen Lord walking through walls; yet elsewhere -- even in the same gospel, John -- we hear that his flesh is substantial enough for Mary to cling to and for Thomas to touch. Luke makes it a point to tell us how he ate a piece of fish. Scripture clearly declares that the risen Lord is the same Jesus; yet even his closest friends have a hard time recognizing him. Most definitely he is Jesus, but he's different somehow: he is perfected, complete.
Then there are the accounts of Peter and Paul -- not narrative accounts, as in the gospels, but rather testimony from witnesses. Acts records Peter's declaration: "We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day...." Even Paul, who never met Jesus before his resurrection, met him afterwards, on the Damascus Road: "Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me." Sure, it wasn't the typical way to meet the risen Jesus -- but is there ever a typical way to meet a man risen from the dead? "By the grace of God," Paul affirms, "I am what I am."
Of all the accounts of Jesus' resurrection, though, it is the simple story of Mark's that is the most innocent, the most direct -- and, in its own way, the most beguiling. Mark provides no eyewitness accounts from those who have met the risen Lord. There's just an empty tomb, and an angel saying, "He's gone from here." For Mark, the central feature of the story seems to be the angel's command: Go. Go and tell the disciples and Peter. Go and follow the risen Lord to Galilee. Go and share with all who will hear it this glorious news that death has been vanquished forever, that Jesus who was crucified now reigns triumphant.
It is Mark's account that is closest to our own, modern-day experience. No one in the church today has embraced Jesus, as Mary Magdalene did, or put their finger in his side, as Thomas did. All that is left to us are the stories, the testimony. That, and the command of the angel: Go. Go to Galilee. There he awaits you.
The same will be true for our Easter congregations. Let us share the good news with them: yet as we do so, let us not fail to share the angel's command as well. Along with the glorious Easter proclamation "He is risen!" there is the instruction of the angel to go and leave the place where we presently are, in our spiritual lives: to venture out and see if the risen Lord does indeed meet us.
To set out on a journey is a risk, to be sure. It's the risk called faith. But it's a risk worth taking.
Prayer For The Day
Great are you, O God, and greatly to be praised! For you have raised your son, Jesus, from the dead, vanquishing every power of darkness. He has gone before us into Galilee: give us the courage, the conviction and the inquisitive faith to follow him there. Amen.
To Illustrate
One of the new and different amusements this computer age has brought to our culture is "interactive entertainment." On computer blogs and bulletin boards, people sometimes write murder mysteries together, as a community effort. One person writes the first chapter, another the second, and so on -- with no one knowing exactly how it's all going to turn out, until it does.
A few years back, Hollywood produced a movie, Clue, based on the same principle. Based on the popular murder-mystery board game, the film had three or four separate endings. When the time for the final scene arrived, the audience -- equipped (in at least some theaters) with computer keypads -- got to vote on which ending they wanted. They got to decide which suspect had committed the murder.
Interactivity is the principle behind all computer and video games. Players impact the story by what they punch into the keyboard, or how they wiggle the joystick. Every game session is, by definition, different from the last.
There's an interactive story in the Bible. It's Mark's account of Jesus' resurrection. It ends abruptly because what happens next is up to the readers to decide.
***
The great composer of operas, Puccini, died suddenly before he had a chance to finish his final work, Turandot. One of his fellow-composers, Franco Alfano, wrote two final scenes that completed the story. When the opera premiered at Milan's La Scala opera house in 1926, the famous Arturo Toscanini was the conductor. Toscanini got to the place where Puccini had left off, and he stopped the performance. With tears in his eyes, he turned to the audience and announced, "This is where the master ends." Then he raised his baton again and said, "This is where his friends continue." And he concluded the performance.
***
Thomas Jefferson also came up with a short ending to the Easter story -- though for very different reasons than Mark. Jefferson, the rationalist, could not accept scripture's miraculous events, so he edited his own version of the New Testament with all supernatural references removed. The emphasis in Jefferson's Bible is on moral teachings: Jesus is an eastern sage, teaching kindness and justice. Jefferson's gospel account closes with these words: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed."
Mark's short ending points us in a very different direction.
***
Canadian preacher and writer Ralph Milton has written:
One of the fundamental things about Christ's resurrection is that we can't argue anyone into believing it. We can offer a whole bunch of circumstantial evidence, but when push comes to shove, there is no proof. That's because we can't prove love.
Ralph goes on to testify how certain he is of the love he shares with Bev, his wife of forty years:
If you were a psychiatrist, you might say we've got a co-dependent relationship. If you were a sociologist, you might say we're living out our gender roles. If you were an accountant, you might say there is a financial advantage in sticking together. And all would be true, to a degree. But proof of love? There is no such thing. At least, not scientific proof. But if you believe, then you know. If you believe, then it becomes the central fact of your life. If you believe, you can see no other fundamental reality.
***
Many years ago, a friend told me that his young son was a great fan of both Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers. The boy faithfully watched both of their television shows, and one day it was announced that Mister Rogers would be paying a visit to the Captain Kangaroo show. The boy was ecstatic. Both of his heroes, together on the same show! Every morning the boy would ask, "Is it today that Mister Rogers will be on Captain Kangaroo?" Finally the great day arrived, and the whole family gathered around the television. There they were, Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo together. The boy watched for a minute, but then, surprisingly, got up and wandered from the room.
Puzzled, his father followed him and asked, "What is it, son? Is anything wrong?"
"It's too good," the boy replied. "It's just too good."
Maybe that's it. Maybe the news of the empty tomb, the news of the resurrection, the news of Jesus' victory over death is just too good to believe, too good to assimilate all at once.
-- Thomas G. Long, "Empty Tomb, Empty Talk," in The Christian Century, April 4, 2001, p. 11
***
On the third day, the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realised the new wonder; but even they hardly realised that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in a semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.
-- G. K. Chesterton
***
Let no one fear Death, for the Savior's death has set us free!
He that was taken by Death has annihilated it.
He descended into Hell, and took Hell captive!...
"O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?"
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the Angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and Life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the tombs!
For Christ being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that slept.
To him be glory and dominion through all the ages of ages!
-- Easter acclamation of John Chrysostom (paraphrased)
