Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
1 Peter 1:3
As presented on *The Lutheran Hour® by
Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, April 1, 1956.
As farmers and townspeople in the Old World walked to church on Easter morning they were accustomed to greeting each other with the ringing shout, “Christ is risen!” Their friends and neighbors answered with the standard reply, “He is risen indeed!”
I say to you today, “Christ is risen!” I can just hear the reply from millions of you who believe in Jesus Christ: “He is risen indeed!”
What a great day this is, with its dramatic reminder that Christ is alive. Christ has conquered. There is hope for humanity. All of this takes us back a long time. A few sad-eyed women were picking their way to the tomb in the early morning darkness when the thrill of discovery came with electrifying suddenness. He was not there! A woman wept in the soft light of early morning, her heart crushed over her shattered hopes. He was gone, and she did not know where they had laid Him. Then He appeared! People came with leaden hearts and went forth with winged feet to tell the story of what had happened.
That morning God brought all men everywhere under the spell of immortality. What happened on Easter morning can bring perpetual morning to your life. As Saint Peter recalls the glory of what he saw that morning, we celebrate with him that God has “given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Almighty and Eternal God, thank You for saving us through Your Son Jesus. Fill our lives with the power of faith, the sturdiness of courage, and the exaltation of hope in You. He is risen indeed! Amen.
Taken from A Message of Hope: Proclaiming the Cross (selections from messages broadcast on *The Lutheran Hour, celebrating 75 years of proclaiming the promise).
Copyright © 2006 by Lutheran Hour Ministries
*The Lutheran Hour is the longest-running Christian radio broadcast in the world. It is a production of Lutheran Hour Ministries. For more information, visit www.lutheranhour.org.
Today's Bible Readings: Judges 7-8 Luke 13:23-35
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