April 20: The Paschal Sermon
♫ Music:
Easter Sunday, April 20—Day 47
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 16:1-8 & 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
The Paschal Sermon
If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived thereof. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.
And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts. And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.
(John Chrysostom c. 347-407)
Prayer
Christ is Risen: The world below lies desolate
Christ is Risen: The spirits of evil are fallen
Christ is Risen: The angels of God are rejoicing
Christ is Risen: The tombs of the dead are empty
Christ is Risen indeed from the dead,
the first of the sleepers,
Glory and power are his forever and ever.
( Hippolytus 190-236)
Grid Buster
Lynn Aldrich
Tarp and Carpet
And
Risen Christ
Grünewald
Musee d'Unterlinden, Colmar
Oil on Wood
About the Artist and Art (Piece 1)
Lynn Aldrich is a Los Angeles based artist who creates conceptual art based on contemporary life and culture, reality, humanity and the triune God. In her approach to art, she makes use of objects and materials from everyday life that become metaphors for the concepts and issues she wants to express. She correlates and contrasts this symbolic world to her experience living within a contemporary culture that is fragmented, vernacular, and oriented toward artificiality and consumerism. To understand Grid Buster, which was on display in the Biola University Art Gallery in 1989, one must first refer to the Grünewald Isenheim Altarpiece panel of the resurrected Christ. In Adrich's installation, the risen Christ seen on the gallery wall has been created from a cut-out of commonplace carpet. Aldrich comments on the piece: “From a bad taste decorator den carpet in a modernist grid erupts this very baroque almost Dionysian image of Jesus. I like the feeling that a powerful, supernatural event could happen in anybody’s rec room… Christ rising from the grave of suburban melancholia.”
http://lynnaldrich.com/
About the Artist and Art (Piece 2)
Matthias Grüenwald was a German Renaissance painter of religious works, who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the expressive and intense style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. Only ten paintings—several consisting of many panels—and thirty-five drawings survive, all religious, although many others were lost at sea in the Baltic on their way to Sweden as war booty. His reputation was obscured until the late nineteenth century, and many of his paintings were attributed to Albrecht Dürer, who is now seen as his stylistic antithesis.
About the Writer:
John Chrysostom was born circa 347 in Antioch (then in Syria), Turkey. For 12 years, beginning in 386, he established himself as a great preacher, offering his listeners impressive sermons. In 398, Chrysostom was requested, against his will, to serve as archbishop of Constantinople. In 403, Emperor Arcadius banished him. Chrysostom died in 407. Chrysostom’s famous Paschal homily has been read in Eastern Christian churches every Easter for centuries.
About the Music (Piece 1)
The Victor lyrics:
Swallowed into earth's dark womb
And death has triumphed
That's what they say
But tried to hold him in the tomb
The son of life
Rose on the third day
Just look
The gates of hell
They're falling
Crumbling from the inside out
He's bursting through
The walls with laughter (hah!)
Listen to the angels shout
It is finished
He has done it
Life conquered death
Jesus Christ
Has won it
His plan of battle
You know it
He fooled them all
They led him off to prison to die
But as he entered hades hall
He broke those hellish chains with a cry
Just listen to those demons screaming
See him bruise the serpent's head
The prisoners of hell
He's redeeming (oh!)
All the power of death is dead
It is finished
He has done it
Life conquered death
Jesus Christ
Has won it
Just look
The gates of hell they're falling
Crumbling from the inside out
He's bursting through the walls with laughter (hah!)
Listen to the angels shout
(listen, oh, listen)
It is finished
He has done it
Life conquered death
Jesus Christ
Has won it
It is finished
He has done it
Life conquered death
Jesus Christ
Has won it
About the Performer
Keith Green (1953 – 1982) was an American contemporary Christian music pianist, singer and songwriter originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same. Often considered controversial for his frequently confrontational lyrics and spoken messages, he wrote some notable songs alone and with his wife, Melody Green, including "Your Love Broke Through", "You Put This Love in My Heart", and "Asleep in the Light". Green is also known for numerous popular modern hymns, including "O Lord, You're Beautiful" and "There is a Redeemer."
About the Music (Piece 2)
Death in His Grave lyrics:
Though the Earth Cried out for blood
Satisfied her hunger was
Her billows calmed on raging seas
for the souls on men she craved
Sun and moon from balcony
Turned their head in disbelief
Their precious Love would taste the sting
disfigured and disdained
On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave
So three days in darkness slept
The Morning Sun of righteousness
But rose to shame the throes of death
And over turn his rule
Now daughters and the sons of men
Would pay not their dues again
The debt of blood they owed was rent
When the day rolled a new
On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke holding keys
To Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave
On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke with keys
Of Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave
He has cheated
Hell and seated
Us above the fall
In desperate places
He paid our wages
One time once and for all
About the Performer
John Mark McMillan (b 1979) is a singer-songwriter within the Christian music industry. In 2002, he released his debut album Hope Anthology, Volume 1. In 2005 he released The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down, which included the track "How He Loves". The song was successful despite the album's independent release, and has been covered by several well-known artists within the Christian music industry
http://johnmarkmcmillan.com/