The best Easter sermon ever.

I might be overstating it a little... but just a little...

One of my favorite (and arguably the best) Easter sermons ever given was preached by John Chrysostom circa 400 A.D.

I like to read this sermon every Easter, especially the second half. I'd like to share it with you today, because I don't know if it gets more powerful here. He addresses our poverty (not just financial, but spiritual) he talks about our habitual sin, our addictions to doing wrong... and he talks about how Jesus totally outwitted the devil, the grave, and all of it.

The message is clear. The devil, our rebellion, the grave itself did its worst to Jesus... and Jesus used all of that to defeat precisely that which tried to defeat Him! As you read this message, think about that. What's the worst you've ever done? What's the hardest thing you've ever been through? Well, it did its worst to Jesus, first. And when your sorrow, your suffering, your guilt, your shame, your pain tried to bury the Lord of Life, he defeated it from the inside out.

I hope this is as much a blessing to you today as it is for me:

...Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen! 

I don't have much to add to that.

He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!

Have a blessed Easter! 

Judah