Dear ,    

HE IS RISEN!!

He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. Matthew 28:6 (NLT)

A traditional Easter greeting in the Western church is the exclamation "He is risen!" and the traditional response is "He is risen, indeed!" This greeting is called the "Paschal greeting" and is a very old custom. (The word 'Paschal' comes from an ancient Aramaic word, pasha (Hebrew, pesah) meaning 'Passover'.)

The greeting is ultimately based on Luke 24:34. Translations throughout church history, from the Latin Vulgate (c. AD 400) to the ESV (2001) have translated this verse nearly identically: "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" (ESV). Exactly how the saying became a standard greeting in the church is not known, although there are various theories regarding how it came into common usage.

We do know that, at first, the greeting was more common in Eastern and Byzantine liturgies than in the Western church. There is a tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church that the saying was made popular by Mary Magdalene when she supposedly addressed Emperor Tiberius in Rome with the words "Christ is risen."

Using this address should be more than an empty tradition. The words "He is risen!" remind us of the joyous news we celebrate at Easter, that Jesus' death was not in vain, and that He has the power to overcome death. Saying "He is risen!" allows us to share this incredible truth with each other. The resurrection of Christ gives us hope for salvation and for our own resurrection and eternal life.

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!