Easter Sunday: He Has Risen
“He is not here, but has risen!” ~ Luke 24:6
Echoing through the generations from the empty tomb, “He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:6) encapsulates the essence of Easter Sunday. As the Gospel of Luke narrates, “the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:7). “He has risen!” thus becomes the sweetest promise of renewal and redemption—a redemption that is obtained through Christ alone.
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, beckons us to seek the light of our life, our sustenance and provider, the Son of Man: “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11). The method through which we may reach the Son of Man? By professing the truth of the Gospel, we are redeemed through his death and resurrection. The Apostle Paul calls baptism a symbolic avenue through which to relish in the fruits of Christ’s death and resurrection. Those who “were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Rom. 6:3), solidifying Christ’s sacrifice for humanity as the ultimate act of forgiveness, with the highest price—the death of Our Prince.
Just like serpents who shed their skins to renew their material bodies, we as well shed our sinful past in an attempt to discard our corporeal desires and replace these jarring, wicked, misleading sentiments with the will of the Lord—engaging thus in the process of sanctification.
Hence, the very purpose of Easter Sunday is to lead us to Christ’s precious gift. In His humbleness, Christ—still fully God—was incarnated into man, risen and resurrected on the third day through the power of the Father, granting us a chance at “a new life” (Rom. 6:4). A new life where through the gifts of clarity, agility, brightness and impassibility, as Christ freely bestows us in lying down his life, we are redeemed.
Daniela Doyle is a freshman at Columbia College, hoping to double major in Economics and History. She loves catching up with friends after a long and arduous week on Law Bridge.