Christ Is Risen Alleluia! This morning is so full of images – the empty tomb – the voice of angels Mary’s encounter with Jesus – the promises made through the prophets coming true it is so rich – so full – so basic to who we are as an Easter People. Friday – sad Friday – the day we call Good Friday – is brushed aside in one glorious moment of realization one moment of startling fear and overwhelming joy – a moment of holy awe – as the significance of what is seen – and what is unseen comes crashing in. Jesus is Risen. Death could not hold him. And if it cannot hold him, it cannot hold us. All that Jesus said about life and death all that was understood only as idea -as a concept -as a vision is made real in that empty tomb and in that encounter in the garden. And we today share in it. We share in the promises made to the Children of Israel and to the entire world through the Prophets. We share in the promises made to the disciples and to all who listened to Jesus as he walked towards his death upon a cross. We share in it -for the word that he spoke to them -and to us — is made true and real by what we testify to this morn, it is made true by the resurrection. What is this Easter morn? It is God’s promise of a new day. It is God’s promise of a new life. It is God’s promise of a new world coming to pass in our midst. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.