Xanthe Hancox

‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:55-57

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Christians around the world remembered the resurrection of our Saviour with these words on Sunday. And if you attended church, there’s a good chance that you sang these words:

Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

The earliest forms of the hymn can be traced back to a Latin text from the 14th century. In 1708 the four Latin stanzas were translated into English and a few decades later, in 1739, a modified version was published by John and Charles Wesley.

But the hymn that we have today is quite different from the one that Charles Wesley wrote.  The original hymn had no Alleluias. Someone whose name has been lost decided to set the words to the tune that we now use; a tune by a composer whose name has also been lost.  But the words didn't fit the tune, so he added the Alleluias.  The perfect Easter hymn came into being through the work of three different people who probably never met.  It is unlikely that any of the three had any idea how much their hymn would add to our celebration of Easter.

The hymn begins with both heaven and earth singing in praise of Christ having won the battle and defeated death. In the fourth stanza he quotes Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (15:55) where Paul is taunting death: "Where O Death is now thy sting? Where's thy victory boasting grave?" The next stanza answers the question and says that we have the same power if we follow Christ.

A striking feature of the hymn it is written in the present tense. "Christ the Lord is risen today" not "has risen" or "rose." This is powerful because it places us in community with those who witnessed the resurrection in their own lifetimes, and reaffirms our own hope of being set free from death. "Made like him, like him we rise"  - also stated in the present tense - conveys the hope that brings God's power and new life now, lifting us from our current situation of "death" and into everlasting life.

This Easter as you hear or sing the wonderful old hymns, praise the Lord for giving you victory over death and hell. Can you hear an echoing “Alleluia!” from heaven?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFjnlBn0K10

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the power present in our lives because of Christ Jesus, and would ask that today we would find ourselves equipped with courage and joy because of him who conquered the grave. Amen.