Christ Arose
Christ Arose
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!
Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus my Savior!
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus my Lord!
Death cannot keep his prey,
Jesus my Savior!
He tore the bars away,
Jesus my Lord!
IT’S HARD TO MATCH this hymn for sheer drama. The first stanza begins dismally, then strikes a note of hope, and then the chorus explodes with joy. The music itself comes rising up from the depths and celebrates on high.
Robert Lowry wrote both the words and music to this hymn in 1874. At the time, he was professor of literature at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and pastor of a nearby church. He had written other hymn tunes and texts as he practiced his passion for poetry and song. “Sometimes the music comes and the words follow,” he explained once. “I watch my moods, and when anything strikes me, whether words or music, no matter where I am, at home, on the street, I jot it down. My brain is sort of a spinning machine, for there is music running through it all the time.”
God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, [the people of Israel] nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life.
Acts 2:23-24
From the book
