On this Easter Sunday, I offer a selection of resurrection reminiscences, drawing on selected Scriptures, spiritual reflections, songs, and poems.
Right now, wherever you may be, may you experience the Joy of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, and may you be raised up to more than you can be!
Easter Song – Keith Green
[Verse 1]
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing, that you can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing, "Christ is risen from the dead!"
The angel up on the tombstone
Said, "He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell His disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead!"
[Chorus]
Joy to the world
He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
[Verse 2]
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing, that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing
They're singing, "Christ, He will reveal it now"
The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus's power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour
[Chorus]
Joy to the world
He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
[Interlude]
[Verse 1]
The angel up on the tombstone
Said, "He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell His disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead!"
[Chorus]
Joy to the world
He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah.
1 Corinthians 15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Resurrection of Christ
15 Now I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, the good news[a] that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures 4 and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.[b] 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died[c] in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.[d] 21 For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human, 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 23 But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God[e] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
30 And why are we putting ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought with wild animals at Ephesus with a merely human perspective, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”33 Do not be deceived:
“Bad company ruins good morals.”
34 Sober up, as you rightly ought to, and sin no more, for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is[f] from heaven. 48 As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will[g] also bear the image of the one of heaven.
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,[h] but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
And so the resurrection argument of 1 Corinthians 15 thematizes all the diverse answers that Paul renders in 1 Corinthians. It is indeed the red thread that connects all its various parts. It does so in a twofold way: first, the stress on the resurrection body shows that life in the body for other bodies is inseparable from life in the Spirit because the deeds of the body have eternal significance for our participation in the coming Kingdom of God. Second, the future dimension of the kingdom of God and of the resurrection from the dead mans that our union with Christ in our present life is not only a gift, but also a mandate (15:58). The future dimension of God’s kingdom alerts us to the fact that Christian life is not a completed life, because it must wait for the redemption of all of God’s creatures in the world in God’s own time. (Beker 1994:19)
Christ is Risen Today - A Cappella by Chris Rupp
Resurrection by Alfred Noyes (1880 – 1958)
https://m.poemhunter.com/poem/resurrection/
Once more I hear the everlasting sea
Breathing beneath the mountain's fragrant
breast,
Come unto Me, come unto Me,
And I will give you rest.
We have destroyed the Temple and in three days
He hath rebuilt it -- all things are made new:
And hark what wild throats pour His praise
Beneath the boundless blue.
We plucked down all His altars, cried aloud
And gashed ourselves for little gods of clay!
Yon floating cloud was but a cloud,
The May no more than May.
We plucked down all His altars, left not one
Save where, perchance (and ah, the joy was fleet),
We laid our garlands in the sun
At the white Sea-born's feet.
We plucked down all His altars, not to make
The small praise greater, but the great praise less,
We sealed all fountains where the soul could slake
Its thirst and weariness.
"Love" was too small, too human to be found
In that transcendent source whence love was
born:
We talked of "forces": heaven was crowned
With philosophic thorn.
"Your God is in your image," we cried, but O,
'Twas only man's own deepest heart ye gave,
Knowing that He transcended all ye know,
While -- we dug His grave.
Denied Him even the crown on our own brow,
E'en these poor symbols of His loftier reign,
Levelled His Temple with the dust, and now
He is risen, He is risen again,
Risen, like this resurrection of the year,
This grand ascension of the choral spring,
Which those harp-crowded heavens bend to hear
And meet upon the wing.
"He is dead," we cried, and even amid that gloom
The wintry veil was rent! The new-born day
Showed us the Angel seated in the tomb
And the stone rolled away.
It is the hour! We challenge heaven above
Now, to deny our slight ephemeral breath
Joy, anguish, and that everlasting love
Which triumphs over death.
Celebrated Gospel resurrection moments through poetry
Poem and reading by Amy Scott Robinson. Visuals by Richard Lyall. Video and music by Sam Hargreaves. To download this video to use in online services, or for the text and PowerPoint slides, visit https://engageworship.org/RecognisingYou
https://engageworship.org/ideas/recognising-you-resurrection-poem
Jesus in the garden, newly risen from the dead,
who stood by weeping Mary, and who heard the words she said
as if you were the gardener, till at last your shepherd's voice
called her 'Mary' and with one word gave her reason to rejoice,
Jesus in the garden, ever new but still the same,
help me recognise you in the speaking of my name.[John 20:10-18]
Jesus on the journey, fellow traveller on the road,
who met two sad disciples, walking with them as you showed
the meaning of the scriptures that predicted you would rise,
but only when you blessed the meal could they believe their eyes.
Jesus on the journey, meet me where my hopes have fled,
help me recognise you in the breaking of the bread.[Luke 24:13-35]
Jesus in the locked room, breaking through despair and doubt,
who comforted your friends when they had shut the whole world out,
who came again for Thomas, and revealed your hands and side
so that he could touch and know you as alive, though you had died.
Jesus in the locked room, breaking through our self-built bars,
help me recognise you in the touching of your scars.[John 20:19-29]
Jesus on the shoreline, cooking breakfast for your friends,
who offered guilty Peter one more chance to make amends,
who filled a net with fish for him, and helped him to recall
the first catch that convinced him to respond to your first call.
Jesus on the shoreline, know my best, forgive my worst,
help me recognise you in the way I met you first.[John 21:1-14]
My resurrection life is now begun
Resurrection
The pain of forsakenness is gone,
The darkest night is overcome,
The tomb of death is opened wide,
The heavy stone is thrust aside,
My resurrection life is now begun;
The abiding touch of nail-pierced grace,
The kiss of full acceptance upon my face,
The weariness of all dis-ease and sin,
The heavy burdens released within,
My life aflame in God's embrace;
A Voice burns deep within my soul,
His Presence comes and makes me whole,
The mocking guilt with all the shame,
The sacred healing, I'm free of blame,
My journey onward to my new goal!
© Roger Arendse 20200412 Easter Sunday
You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
You raise me up... To more than I can be.
Reflection and Journalling Exercise
How does belief in the Resurrection of Jesus impact your life right now?
Read the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:16-20 and observe your thoughts and feelings as you do?
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
Reflect on Beker’s (1994:19) statement on 1 Corinthians 15:58: “the future dimension of the kingdom of God and of the resurrection from the dead means that our union with Christ in our present life is not only a gift, but also a mandate.” What does he mean? And what is the impact of this on your life?
Re-read the poem “Resurrection” by Alfred Noyes. Which words, images, pictures stand out for you? Why?
Focus on each Gospel resurrection moment and each poetic stanza as read by Amy Scott Robinson. What resonates with you?
References
Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version (or any other version of your choosing)
Beker, J.C. 1994. The New Testament: A Thematic Introduction. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
Blessed Easter to you!