“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; Alleluia” is an invitation to the “Paschal Feast”, the celebration of Easter Day. The word paschal comes from the Greek pascha which itself comes from the Hebrew word pesach, meaning “Passover”. Paschal originally referred to the Passover, then, but soon came to refer to Christ’s Passion. Later, it came to refer to the Resurrection which is why we call Easter the “Paschal Feast”. The author of the hymn, thought to be Wipo of Burgundy in the 11th century, connects Christ to the Passover lamb.

Do you remember the story of the Passover when the Israelites in Egypt were rescued from slavery? After sending 9 plagues upon the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go, God sent his 10th and final plague—the killing of each family’s firstborn son. God protected the Israelites, however, by instructing them to slaughter an unblemished lamb and to paint the blood from the lamb over their doorposts. That night, the angel of death “passed over” the doors that had the blood painted on them. God, through Moses, then led the people of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, drowning Pharaoh and his army.

Christ is compared to the Passover lamb because it is his blood that saves us from death. His blood was painted on the wood of the cross to deliver us from death. He was the pure and unblemished lamb that was sacrificed for us. He is the “paschal victim” that our hymn talks about, the victim who was sacrificed for our salvation. Just like God delivered the Israelites from their enemies and from slavery, so he delivers us from our enemy, the devil, and from our slavery of sin.

This hymn, then, is one of rejoicing because Christ is risen! We are told to “hasten on [our] way” to “offer praise with love replete”. Replete means to be filled with something. This hymn invites us to offer praise filled with love at the feet of the Paschal victim, Jesus Christ himself.

And to this we respond over and over: Alleluia!

Review questions:

1. What does “Paschal feast” refer to?

2. What did “paschal” originally mean?

3. Can you retell the story of the Passover?

4. What is Christ compared to in this hymn?

5. How does our story compare to the story of the Israelites being led out of Egypt?

6. What does “replete” mean?

7. Who is the “Paschal victim”?