"He is risen indeed!"

Easter Sunday is the holiest day of the year, a day when even those who don't usually observe the Christian calendar or attend liturgical churches greet each other with the proclamation "Christ is risen!"

But Easter is more than a day—it's a season even longer than Lent. In fact, for the Christian who has died with Christ and been brought to life in him, Easter is the new, joyous, and radical way of living. The world is turned upside down. Inthis short volume, priest and New Testament scholar Wesley Hill explores the history and significance of the season of Easter for the church and for our own spiritual formation.

This volume of the Fullness of Time series offers readers



- An accessible, digestible introduction to the history and practice of the season of Easter,

- Practical application of the Scriptural story and theology of Easter to our own spiritual formation, and

- A helpful contextualization ofthe Easter season into the context of the rest of the church calendar.

About the Series

Each volume in the Fullness of Time series invites readers to engage with the riches of the church year, exploring the traditions, prayers, Scriptures, and rituals of the seasons of the church calendar.



Wesley Hill is an Episcopal priest and associate professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary. Among his books are Washed and Waiting, Paul and the Trinity, Spiritual Friendship, and The Lord's Prayer.



Esau McCaulley (PhD, St. Andrews) is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He is the author of Reading While Black and Sharing in the Son's Inheritance, as well as the children's book Josie Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife and four children.



The Fullness of Time: Series Preface by Esau McCaulley



Introduction: The Passover of the Lord



1. The First Easter



2. "We Shall Also Live with Him"



3. "Thou Wast Up by Break of Day"



4. World Upside Down



5. The Right Hand of God



Conclusion: "Let Him Easter in Us"



Acknowledgments



Notes



"Wesley Hill has presented us not with a single Easter lily but a lavish bouquet: scriptural narrative and liturgical drama, baptism and the church, Ascension and Pentecost, hope and healing, and a charge to bear the good news to the world. He wonderfully reminds us that Easter is neither an event trapped in the past nor a single holiday once a year, but fifty days of rejoicing the risen Lord in preparation for his final victory."



"For those new to the Christian faith, Wesley Hill presents a moving biblical introduction to this climactic season in the Christian year. And for those whose sensibilities may be dulled by familiarity with the story, he offers an eye-opening, poetic account of the meaning of Easter, richly informed by close attention to the various biblical accounts of Jesus' resurrection and to the church's ancient liturgical traditions. An excellent resource for preachers, study groups, and anyone interested in pondering the mystery of the resurrection."



"Christ is risen. In these pages, this first and fundamental announcement sounds afresh as good news. Readers are taken into the scripture promises and accounts of resurrection, addressed with the gospel of the crucified and yet living one, and invited to participate in the church's festal celebration of Easter. This informed and honest study is finally a hopeful sermon and a joyous song: because Jesus lives with death behind him, sorrow and fear are not the final word, wrongs and losses will be redeemed, and the grave has lost its sting."



"Wesley Hill has greatly deepened my appreciation for Eastertide. He vividly illuminates the spiritual and symbolic elements of Easter, offering insights that will strengthen your spirit. I look forward to revisiting his work time and again in preparation for and celebration of this festive season."



"'He is risen!' This is a joyful indicative than which none greater can be received, hence the Easter Alleluias. Words are not able to do full justice to what Easter commemorates, the climax of the centuries' long drama of redemption. Readers willnevertheless benefit from Wesley Hill's personal, poetic, and uplifting reflections on its Passover plot – the wondrous transformation of Jesus' death into new life – and on how baptism, liturgy, and the gift of the Holy Spirit enable the faithful even now to experience the first fruits of their new humanity in the risen and ascended Christ, everything they need for their everyday Christian mission of turning the world upside down. 'He is risen indeed!'"