Up From the Grave He Arose!

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!

C Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever,
With His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus my Lord!

C

Death cannot keep its Prey,
Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus my Lord!

C

——

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! On this most joyful Christian holiday, I find one of the most joyful songs in the canon ringing through my head. “Up From the Grave He Arose” conveys so well, particularly in its rousing chorus, the sense of joy and happiness and victory which our celebration of Easter stands for. 

For it is up from His grave that Christ has arisen. Sin and death have been defeated. After the gloom and sadness which have filled Good Friday and Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday is welcome sunshine. And yet this sunshine permeates all of Christianity, year-round. For even on those saddest days of Christian observance, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, we are not truly heartbroken. These days of darkness are ultimately past. There is no hymn which, while we sing it, bars our contemplation of the hope of salvation. We are never stuck in only the moments of sadness brought forth by Christ’s suffering and by his descent into Hell. Christians today live in the light of the resurrection and the promise of salvation. We do not, and we cannot, experience the deep heartbreak that the believers at the crucifixion must have felt. We already know the fulfillment of the passion of Christ. It then makes sense that Good Friday and Holy Saturday are ultimately days to prepare for the celebration of Easter. In my own life, though we may go to a somber church service on Good Friday, most of Good Friday and Holy Saturday are full of preparations for Easter. Cooking and cleaning, errand-running and decorating, these are things which fill most of my family’s and my days leading up to Easter. We are not caught up in grief. We already anticipate and prepare for the great joy which has already been given to us, two thousand years ago.

Thus, we can sing “Death cannot keep its Prey... He tore the bars away” all year round. Though today may be the designated day to praise Christ’s triumph and rejoice in His sacrifice for us, it is fully right to do so no matter when and where we are. We are assured that Christ has arisen as “Victor over the dark domain, and he lives forever with His saints to reign” no matter the time of year. Christ is with us and reigning over all creation from here until eternity!