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He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!
    The stanza above is a common and ancient refrain of Christians almost from the moment Jesus rose from the dead. In that awesome event, Jesus proved Himself the victorious King of Heaven that He promised both His followers and His adversaries that He was.
    Imagine the Sunday after Jesus’ crucifixion. The leaders of Israel must have been congratulating themselves. Pilate was likely relieved the whole ordeal was done. Jesus’ closest followers had locked themselves away for fear of being murdered themselves. Jesus’ faithful female followers furtively sought out the tomb in the early hours of the morning so that they could give Jesus a proper burial.
    Imagine everyone’s astonishment when they discovered Jesus was not there. Even more astonishing, imagine everyone’s reaction when His followers, previously hiding in fear, now fearlessly stood before the people and proclaimed this same Jesus risen from the dead.
    Such is the power of the Gospel. This is the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection, spoken of by His own mouth and testified to by hundreds and thousands of faithful witnesses to that truth. He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!
DLH
