A hymn for your congregation to learn and sing in worship, and for your family to learn and sing in the home.
Traditional recording (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
Modern recording (Reawaken Hymns)
Lyrics
Christ the Lord is ris'n today. Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say: Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high. Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav'ns, and earth, reply: Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King. Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Dying once, He all doth save. Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
Loves redeeming work is done. Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won. Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise. Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise. Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led.
Foll'wing our exalted Head. Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise. Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia!
Sheet Music / Arrangements
Choral: https://www.jwpepper.com/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today-3276771-1236430/p (SATB / John Rutter)
Piano: https://koertsmusic.com/downloads/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today/ (Intermediate)
Piano: https://koertsmusic.com/downloads/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today-3/ (Advanced)
Organ: https://lorenz.com/shop/lorenz-products/christ-the-lord-is-risen-today-37 (Intermediate, 3-staff; postlude)
Organ: https://www.lorenz.com/shop/keyboard/organ-solo/with-everlasting-alleluias (Moderately easy, 2-staff)
Bible Memory Verse
"The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said!'" (Matthew 28:5-7, NIV)
The Story Behind the Hymn
The first Wesleyan Chapel in London, England, was a deserted iron foundry, and became known as the Foundry Meeting House. This hymn, "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today," was written by Charles Wesley for the first service in this chapel in 1739. The hymn was first published in the Foundry's Collection—which contained "hymns set to music as they are commonly sung at the Foundry." The book had approximately fifty hymns with an additional Psalm Supplement. "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" was originally entitled "Hymn for Easter Day" and consisted of eleven four-line stanzas.
The popularity of this hymn is due in large part to the fine tune with which it has been paired for hundreds of years (the composer, however, has never been identified). The tune first appeared anonymously in the Lyra Davidica hymnal, published in London in 1708. The joyous "alleluia" at the end of each line was not written by Wesley but was added by an editor to make the text fit the tune. "Hallelujah," or "Alleluia," is from the ancient Hebrew worship service and was a common expression of praise in the early Christian Church. Jerome, an important leader of the early church who translated the Bible into Latin wrote that in his day the very ceilings of houses of worship were often shaken with the reverberating "Alleluias" when believers sang their praises to God.
Charles Wesley is also the author of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and many other well-known hymns still sung by believers today in churches worldwide.