“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

What a week it had been…what a weekend!  After all, holiday festivals were normally exciting and noisy events, and Passover was certainly no less so than any other holiday.  But this festival — this Passover — had been different…very different!  Jerusalem had been in an uproar ever since Jesus came to town on Sunday.  People from every corner of the country had hailed him as the deliverer.  And did they need one!  Rome was the first foreign power to occupy Israel with such totality and cruelty.  Its presence could be felt everywhere, like a nasty case of the flu when it hits.  The body still functions, but not nearly like when it is healthy.

The crowd looked to Jesus for liberation.  The previous Sunday they shouted, Hosanna!, meaning “save us.”  Then he got into this series of nasty confrontations with the religious leaders through the week, after which he’d disappear with his disciples.  What a bunch they were!  After the authorities arrested Jesus over in the garden they fled like bats out of a cave.  Then to find an execution going on Friday morning, well, that was just about too much.  But then to learn that one of the “criminals” was Jesus, well, that was too much!  Then the 3-hour period of darkness at noon on Friday…and that earthquake!  So severe that rocks split apart.  And someone tearing the veil in the Temple in two?  What in the world was going on?

On Saturday the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, commanded that a group of battle-hardened Roman soldiers guard Jesus’ tomb.  From what?  Or whom?  Everyone in the city was busy with holiday events.  Even the newly freed criminal Barabbas hadn’t tried any disruptive actions yet.  He was probably enjoying the break too, being out of jail.  Jesus’ followers were hiding, silent in the upper room…bewildered, depressed and in shock.  No one could make sense out of anything that had happened.

That’s when the rumors started flying, Sunday morning…something about an angel declaring that Jesus was alive.  What was the word—risen?  How could that be?  The whole city had seen him die on Friday.  Alive again?  That second earthquake did occur Sunday morning.  Did that have something to do with it?  What about those soldiers and that rumor of their falling asleep?  Perhaps the strangest thing of all was those who had seen and talked with Jesus’ disciples.  They said they were excited almost beyond words.  Their faces told it all.

Yes, Jesus indeed had risen from the dead!  In fact, Christians from the earliest times created this greeting, “Jesus is risen,” and the reply would come, “He is risen indeed!”  Notice that the greeting is a bit different than our text.  The NIV says, “He has risen.”  In the Greek and New King James Version it says, “He is risen.”  Is there a difference?  Absolutely.  The NIV’s rendering is in the present perfect tense, which means that what Jesus did — arise from the dead — was effective up to the present tense.  That is very close to what the text  says, but not quite.  “He is risen” describes Jesus in the present tense as being risen, a predicate nominative.  In other words, “risen” is not so much something he did.  It describes what he is!

Since these are the angel’s words, let’s consider the angels’ perspective.  First, the angel Gabriel announced the conception of Jesus to Mary (Luke 1:26-38).  Then an angel, reinforced with “a great company” more, proclaimed his birth to the shepherds in the fields (Luke 2:8-14).  Angels attended to Jesus at the end of his testing in the wilderness (Matt. 4:11).  An angel ministered to him in the garden (Luke 22:43).  Twelve legions (36,000-72,000) of them were ready to stop the betrayal of Jesus (Matt. 26:53).  All had he to do was ask.  He didn’t.  No doubt angels watched his every move while he was on earth, including his death.  But now … now they had witnessed the awesome power of God raise Jesus from the dead.  And two angels (Luke 24:4), one being the spokesman, were dispatched to tell the news — Jesus is no longer dead.  He IS risen!!  He is back…alive like he always was, and ready to assume his rightful place as Lord (Rom. 1:4, Phil. 2:9-11).  “Death no longer has mastery over him” (Rom. 6:9).  Matthew, Mark and Luke all say, “He is risen.”  He is risen indeed.

Do you catch the angel’s excitement, the sheer joy he had in making the announcement?  Does a risen Savior capture your imagination, your heart and your life?  Do others see his risen life in you?