In today’s world, Easter is often secularized. Many think of hunting Easter eggs, the Easter Bunny, and Easter Parades when they hear the word Easter. Yet, Easter is much more! It’s…
when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Messiah!
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One of my favorite hymns at Easter is the one I sang every Easter morning when I was a young boy. Sometimes I attended sunrise services out in the open among the trees and flowers, and at other times I sang the hymn in the church. Wherever I sang it I remember stooping as low as I could and then when it was time for the chorus to begin, I would suddenly jump up. It was that hymn….
UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE
Here is the story behind the hymn.
This hymn was inspired by the story of the angel at the empty tomb of Jesus who said to the frightened women who had come to the tomb, “He is not here; he has risen.” Luke 24:6 NIV
The text was written and the tune was composed in 1874 by Robert Lowry. He had been a Christian since he was seventeen years old, and as a preacher he had pastored churches in New York and New Jersey. He had moved to preach at the First Baptist Church in Lewisburg, PA, where he also served there as a professor at Bucknell University.
One evening Robert Lowry was having his nightly devotions and was thinking about the events associated with Christ's death and resurrection.
He soon found himself sitting at a small pump organ in the parlor of his home. (A pump organ is much smaller than a pipe organ, and requires the organist to pump with his foot to produce the musical sound.) In a very spontaneous fashion, Lowry penned the words and music for the song that echoed in his mind. Many of his hymns like this one were composed on that small organ as he would pump with his foot.
The hymn was only one of more than 500 hymns written by Robert Lowry, who also edited over twenty hymnals. He said, “I am always amazed at how quickly some of our favorite hymns were written”. This one was no exception.
Other hymns you may be familiar with that he wrote were Nothing But The Blood of Jesus, Shall We Gather at the River, and I Need Thee Every Hour. Many of the hymns written by Lowry became very popular and have been used and sung at evangelistic revivals and in churches all over the world.
Dr. Lowry considered his position as a preacher to be his primary occupation and his music ability as a hymn writer/composer to be secondary. He couldn’t deny the success of his hymns, but delivering sermons was much more important to him. Music to him was a “side issue,” an “efflorescence,” and writing a hymn ranked far below preparing and delivering a sermon. Yet almost a century later his hymns remain a potent force in many gospel gatherings.
Looking back almost 150 years, and in one of God’s Other Ways©, Lowry is better remembered for his hymns, and his sermons are mostly forgotten.
Lowry’s hymn, Up From the Grave He Arose, begins slowly in a dirge-like tone, and then the refrain switches into a joyous melody.
(1) Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
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!
(2) Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!
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!
(3) Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
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!
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CHRIST IS RISEN; CHRIST IS RISEN, INDEED!. These familiar words will be heard in churches all over the United States and around the world on Easter Sunday morning.
Use this link to listen to a rendition of this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN77HjfAc8k
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He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Luke 24:6-7 NIV
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:5-6 NIV
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 NIV
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Note: North of the equator Resurrection or Easter Sunday typically falls on a different date each year. Easter is always the first Sunday after or on the first full moon, after spring arrives.
Early Christians linked the date of Easter to the Hebrew calendar. The New Testament states that the Resurrection took place on the first day of the week following Passover. Sunday is the first day of a Jewish week. Since Passover falls on the day of the first full moon after we celebrate the arrival of spring, the earliest Easter can be is March 22 and the latest it can be is April 25