Easter

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

”‘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 will nevertheless 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!’”

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.