He is risen indeed!

CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

That versicle and response are spoken all over the world on Easter morning. It conveys a truth so filled with wonder and joy and peace that it can't be fully expressed in human words. Yet in every Christian church, a sermon- and sometimes more than one sermon- is preached in an attempt to convey at least a crumb of their significance.

This hymn by Paul Gerhard does a truly remarkable job of bringing home all that Easter means. As Pastor Hans Fiene points out in one of his satirical YouTube videos in which Clint Eastwood contrasts its richness and meaningfulness with the superficial sentimentality of a great percentage of contemporary Christian lyrics (be sure you watch to the end; the best past comes after the credits), it's substantially is what sets it apart from most hymns, and especially the ones that are so popular in some circles.

As Colossians 3:16 does indeed make clear, we don't sing hymns primarily to express our emotions, much less to evoke them. We sing them to proclaim Christ- to each other, and also to ourselves. God certainly doesn't need our praises, but since we can't help praising Him, we might as well mention what we're praising Him for, and in the process be drawn closer to Him!

Anyway, enough of my rant. Here's what we're praising God for on Easter.

Here is a jab- far short of being adequate as all human words must be, but a better job than nearly all the others- at putting into words what Easter means. You may or may not like the music, which I personally find glorious. But the music isn't what hymns finally are about.

Listen to the words. The words are the Gospel, and nothing less.