Recently, JLem and I have seen a multitude of Post-Easter signs outside of churches that read “HE IS RISEN” or “CHRIST IS RISEN.” Almost all of these are Lutheran. I understand that Jesus came back from the dead. What I don’t understand is this… do Lutheran churches know it happened over 2000 years ago? Would that not make it past tense? Perhaps I am the only one that thinks that using “is” that way makes it sound like “risen” is an adjective or a noun instead of a verb.

For example:

Some kinds of people are “risen,” which means that they have short curly hair on their knuckles. My friend Jesus is risen.
-or-
New, Risen cereal! Now with a Jesus in every box!
-or-
A Risen shoes commerical! [voiceover] Jesus Sanders knows what kind of shoes to wear in the harshest, most Golgatha-like environments… Risen. When Jesus needs to rise to the occasion, he puts on our shoes. Risen IS Jesus, and Jesus IS Risen.

The correct way:

Jesus IS rising out of the grave!
Jesus HAS risen,
and Jesus ROSE from the dead in fulfillment of the scriptures…”

WARNING: I feel very strongly that the King James translation of the Bible does not constitute a legitimate reason to use words incorrectly on signs all over town. If you plan on comments in this vein, then they better be in iambic pentameter and Elizabethan English…

I’m waiting, Lutherans everywhere. Hit me with your best 96 Theses.