Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
This declaration is familiar in many churches. As a triumphant statement of Christ's victory over the grave, it is a bold message for all to hear on Easter morning.
Gotquestions.org claims that this traditional Easter greeting in the Western church has sometimes been accompanied by the exchange of three kisses on alternate cheeks. Apparently a very old custom, it is sometimes called the Paschal greeting.
This greeting may have been derived from Luke 24:5. Here, the women discover the angels at the tomb on the third day. And what do the angels tell the frightened women?, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” The women do not give the current expected response. They instead flee away to tell the apostles. The apostles, when told of the experience, also do not give the current expected response. Instead of the joyous wonder of, “He is risen indeed.”, they don't believe the women, saying their story is nonsense.
Next time you are asked to give the current standard greeting on Easter and it seems a bit stale, imagine yourself at the tomb on that bright, shining morning with the light of the angels overwhelming your senses and the presence of God gloriously filling the entrance to the tomb. Those who were privileged to be there didn't know what we know and so didn't receive the message. But we who know the results of this wonder – the appearances of Jesus, the conversion of Paul, etc. can go back in our imagination to that first day of the week and experience it. Let it be the first time. But this time with no fear and no doubt.
– Mary Atwood