Saturday, April 18, 2009
1 Corinthians 15:20a But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead
THE DAY OF RESURRECTION
The day of resurrection!
Earth, tell it out abroad --
The Passover of gladness,
The Passover of God!
From death to life eternal,
From this world to the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over
With hymns of victory!
Through Christ's resurrection we have indeed "passed over" from death to life. This thought is captured in the ancient hymn by John of Damascus. His poem "The Day of Resurrection" dates from the early 8th century. John of Damascus was one of the best known monks of the Greek Orthodox Church, a church known for its ecclesiastical ceremony and liturgical music. One account describes Easter Sunday among the Greek Christians:
"Everywhere men clasped each other's hands, congratulated one another, and embraced with countenances beaming with delight, as though to each one separately some wonderful happiness had been proclaimed -- and so in truth it was; and all the while rising above the mingling sounds, each one of which was a sound of gladness, the aged priests were distinctly heard chanting forth a glorious hymn of victory in tones so loud and clear, that they seemed to have regained the youth and strength to tell the world how "Christ is risen from the dead, having trampled death beneath His feet, and henceforth they that are in the tombs have everlasting life" (Osbeck, 101 Hymns Stories, p. 246).
Let Easter be the highest joy for all of us! Amen!
