I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

My favorite song to listen to on Easter Morning is this piece from the Easter section of Handel's Messiah.  It is peaceful, calm, and yet resolute in its confidence.  (The references are Job 19:25-26, oddly enough, and 1 Corinthians 15:20).  It is a sublime meditation on the resurrection of Jesus, and our own.  You can find it in my new playlist here.  ( I also use this piece as a benchmark for a really great soprano. Emma Kirkby is a really great soprano, and is perfect for this selection, not overly operatic, if you get my drift.)

While you are there, listen to the glorious "Worthy if the Lamb" and the majestic Great Amen.  If this doesn't stir you, check for a pulse!

Christus Factus Est

Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.

This, from chapter two of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, strikes me as a glimpse into the heart of the Trinity, and thus is deeply mysterious. 

Listen to track one of  my playlist,Songs to Ponder, here, as the Benedictines of Mary sing this great chant.

How can Christ, who is God, become obedient to the Father?  Is it only in His humanity that he can become anything?  As man, He shares with us our temporality, our progression from one moment to the next.  It is not that Christ was disobedient and then became obedient.  Rather, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He faces the moment of decision, so to speak, and accepts, obediently, His coming crucifixion as the Father' will.

Paul continues:

That at the name of Jesus,every knee should bow of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father

Jesus died on the cross for love of each of us, not humanity as a whole, but each individual, for you and for me, so that we could be reconciled to the Father, that our broken relationship be healed.

This is why martyrs willingly go to their deaths proclaiming " Viva Cristo Rey"!