He Is Risen

The Source of "He Is Risen"

The phrase "He is risen" comes from the angel's announcement to the women at the empty tomb on the first day of the week. The earliest written form is in Mark 16:6:

"Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him."

The Greek is ἠγέρθη (ēgerthē) — "he was raised" or "he has been raised" — from the verb ἐγείρω (egeirō, Strong's G1453), meaning "to awaken, rise up, raise from the dead." The KJV translates it actively: "he is risen."

The Announcement Across Four Gospels

All four Gospels record the empty tomb and a divine messenger's announcement, each with slight differences in detail:

• Matthew 28:5–7 — "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said."
• Mark 16:6 — "He is risen; he is not here."
• Luke 24:5–7 — "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."
• John 20:1–18 — The empty tomb, then Jesus' appearance to Mary Magdalene

The First Witnesses

All four Gospels agree that the first witnesses of the empty tomb were women:

• Matthew 28:1 — "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary"
• Mark 16:1 — "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the [mother] of James, and Salome"
• Luke 24:10 — "Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary [the mother] of James, and other women"
• John 20:1 — Mary Magdalene alone

This detail is noted by later writers as significant: in the first century, women's testimony was not accepted in formal Jewish legal proceedings. The Gospel accounts nevertheless preserve their role as the first witnesses.

The Traditional Easter Greeting

An ancient Easter greeting derived from the Gospel account is used in many Christian traditions:

• First person: "Christ is risen!"
• Response: "He is risen indeed!"

This is especially associated with the Eastern Orthodox tradition, where the Greek form is Χριστὸς ἀνέστη (Christos anestē) — "Christ is risen" — with the response Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη (Alēthōs anestē) — "Truly, he is risen." The response phrase has a New Testament parallel in Luke 24:34: "The Lord is risen indeed."

Early Written Testimony

The earliest written reference to the resurrection outside the Gospels is in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, written c. AD 54 — roughly two decades after the event:

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." — 1 Corinthians 15:3–4

Paul introduces this statement with the technical Greek phrase "paredōka... parelabon" — "I delivered... I received" — used for transmitting formal tradition. Most scholars read this as a very early creed that predates Paul's writing, potentially dating to within a few years of the event itself.