He Is Risen: An Easter Worship Song - Death Has Lost, the Grave Is Broken
About He Is Risen
He Is Risen is a new Easter worship song and resurrection anthem that captures the dramatic turn from sealed tomb to empty grave by Malachi Ben-David - scripture-rooted gospel worship with a triumphant, congregational feel built to be sung at full voice on Resurrection Sunday. If you're looking for an easter worship song, resurrection sunday songs, or christian music for Holy Week and the Passion of the Christ that moves from solemnity to celebration without losing either, this is a worship song written for the moment the silence breaks. Rooted in the resurrection accounts of Matthew 28, Luke 24, and John 20, and in the great victory declaration of 1 Corinthians 15, He Is Risen opens in the dark - "they sealed the stone, thought darkness won, three days of silence, hope seemed gone" - and then lets heaven roar.
Drawn from the Gospel resurrection narratives, Acts 2:24, Romans 6:4-5, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 and 54-57, and Revelation 1:17-18, this gospel worship release is a short, powerful, theologically concise resurrection anthem written for Easter services, sunrise services, Holy Week reflections, and any service set aside to proclaim the core of the Christian faith. "He is risen! Death has lost, the grave is broken / Jesus lives, our hope forever!" It is a resurrection worship song for the whole congregation - simple enough to sing on first hearing, strong enough to carry the full weight of the gospel. Its refrain never wavers: He is risen.
Lyrics for He Is Risen
HE IS RISEN Malachi Ben-David
Verse 1 They sealed the stone, thought darkness won, Three days of silence, hope seemed gone. But heaven roared and the earth gave way, The King of kings stepped into the day.
Chorus He is risen! He is risen! Death has lost, the grave is broken! He is risen! Shout it louder! Jesus lives, our hope forever!
Verse 2 From the cross to the empty tomb, Love defeated every doom. Now we rise with Him in power, Resurrection hour after hour!
Chorus He is risen! He is risen! Death has lost, the grave is broken! He is risen! Shout it louder! Jesus lives, our hope forever!
Bridge Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The stone is rolled, the light breaks through! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! He rose for me, He rose for you!
Final Chorus He is risen! (He is risen!) He is risen! (He is risen!) Jesus lives! Our hope forever!
Behind the Song
He Is Risen opens not with a shout but with a stone. "They sealed the stone, thought darkness won, three days of silence, hope seemed gone." Before this Easter worship song ever says the word risen, it honors the silence - three days when the disciples had no idea what was coming, when every hope they had staked on Jesus of Nazareth seemed buried with Him. The song earns its celebration by sitting for one verse in the dark. As a Holy Week resurrection anthem, it follows the same arc the Gospels follow: the cross, the tomb, the sealed silence, and then the breaking of everything that darkness thought it had settled.
"But heaven roared and the earth gave way, the King of kings stepped into the day." Matthew 27:51-52 records that the earth shook and the rocks split at the moment of the crucifixion, and Matthew 28:2 records another great earthquake when the angel rolled back the stone. He Is Risen uses that geological language - the earth giving way - to make the resurrection feel as physical and world-altering as Scripture says it was. As resurrection worship, this is not metaphor; it is the literal reversal of the order of things. The King of kings stepped into the day.
Then the chorus lands like sunrise. "He is risen! He is risen! Death has lost, the grave is broken!" It's 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 compressed into a call-and-response anthem - "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" The short, driving lines are built for a congregation: simple enough to sing on the first pass, strong enough to bear the full weight of the gospel. "Shout it louder" is not a production instruction; it's the same impulse that drove Mary Magdalene out of the garden at a run and drove Peter into the tomb to look for himself.
The second verse does what the best Easter worship songs do - it moves the resurrection from past event to present life. "From the cross to the empty tomb, love defeated every doom. Now we rise with Him in power, resurrection hour after hour!" Romans 6:4-5 is the theology underneath that line: "we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." The resurrection is not only something that happened on the third day; it is the pattern of the Christian life, repeated in every death that gives way to new life.
The bridge is the congregation finding its voice. "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The stone is rolled, the light breaks through! He rose for me, He rose for you!" As a Passion of the Christ worship song, this is the moment the personal stakes arrive - not just the historical declaration but the direct address. He rose for me. He rose for you. Revelation 1:17-18 sits underneath it: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore... and have the keys of hell and of death." The final chorus gives the congregation the last word, calling and responding until the anthem lands on the only sentence that needed to be said: Jesus lives, our hope forever.
Biblical Background
He Is Risen is built on the six resurrection accounts of the New Testament and the great doctrinal summary of 1 Corinthians 15, gathered under four movements. Its opening verses rest on the burial and sealing of the tomb in Matthew 27:59-66, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19 - the historical reality of the sealed stone and three days of silence. The earthquake and the rolled stone come from Matthew 28:1-10, while the angel's announcement - "he is not here, for he is risen" - runs through all four Gospel accounts: Matthew 28:6, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, and John 20:1-18.
The resurrection's doctrinal weight rests on 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (the core gospel: Christ died, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to witnesses) and 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (death swallowed up in victory, the sting of death removed). The believer's union with the risen Christ comes from Romans 6:4-5 and Acts 2:24, "whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death." The song's final declaration of Christ's eternal authority rests on Revelation 1:17-18. Every reference is listed below in KJV, in the order the song moves through it.
Scripture References
Matthew 27:59-66; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19 - the burial and sealing of the tomb (Verse 1) Matthew 27:51-52 - the earth shook and the rocks split at the cross (Verse 1) Matthew 28:1-10 - the earthquake, the stone rolled, He is risen (Verse 1) Mark 16:1-8 - the empty tomb, the angel's announcement (Verse 1) Luke 24:1-12 - why seek ye the living among the dead (Verse 1) John 20:1-18 - the risen Lord appears to Mary in the garden (Chorus) Acts 2:24 - whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death (Chorus) 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 - Christ died, was buried, and rose the third day (Verse 2) 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 - death swallowed up in victory, the sting of death removed (Chorus) Romans 6:4-5 - buried with Him, raised to walk in newness of life (Verse 2) Revelation 1:17-18 - I am alive for evermore, the keys of hell and death (Final Chorus)
Frequently Asked Questions
What genre is He Is Risen? It is an Easter worship song and resurrection anthem - scripture-rooted gospel worship with a triumphant, congregational feel, written for Easter services, Holy Week reflections, sunrise services, and Resurrection Sunday.
What is He Is Risen about? It follows the arc of the resurrection from the sealed tomb and three days of silence to the empty grave and the declaration that death has lost. It opens in the dark and closes with the congregation shouting the oldest victory in Christian history.
Is He Is Risen good for a congregational Easter service? Yes. Its simple, driving chorus - "He is risen! Death has lost, the grave is broken!" - is built to be sung by a full room on first hearing, and its call-and-response final chorus makes it well suited to Resurrection Sunday services, sunrise services, and Holy Week worship.
What does "resurrection hour after hour" mean in the song? It draws on Romans 6:4-5 - that believers are buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. The resurrection is not only a past event on the third day; it is the pattern of the Christian life, repeated in every grief that gives way to hope and every death that gives way to new life.
What scriptures is He Is Risen based on? It draws from all four Gospel resurrection accounts (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20), 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 and 54-57, Romans 6:4-5, Acts 2:24, and Revelation 1:17-18, all in the King James Version (KJV).
Where can I listen to He Is Risen? Stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, and Audiomack, and follow Malachi Ben-David on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok. He Is Risen is also available on Facebook, Instagram, & Threads Music Library and TikTok Sound.