Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
And now, everything is different. The grave has been robbed of its finality. Sin has been proven powerless to overcome the grace and power of the God who creates everything out of nothing and brings life out of death. The devil's pretense has been shown to be nothing but raging pomp and empty, poisonous lies.
For Jesus has literally gone to hell, indeed gone through hell, and burst its gates with the joyous fury of an all-consuming triumph. Oh, don't get me wrong. That ancient dragon still fumes, his claws still tear, his jaws still grasp.
But he lost. He'd been trying to displace the Son since God first spoke radiance into the chaos, and he took his best shot through Pilate, Herod, a bunch of religious folks, and a particularly nasty form of execution. But, really. Nails? Scourging? Name-calling? A stone over a tomb? Against the Light of Light? A few hours of darkness against the Dayspring from on high?