Ministry Letter - April 2013
Dear Friends,
Easter seemed to come around so quickly this year, it was quite a surprise, I’m sure someone has speeded up time! No sooner than the Nativity Figure went away we had Lent! I hope you had a good Lent? Perhaps you did something different?
Talking of surprises the empty tomb must have come as a surprise to Mary and the first disciples. Without the belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, his crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of his being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of his career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead.
There must have been a real mixture of emotions on that first Easter morning: fear, excitement, joy, sadness, apprehension, even disbelief. After all they had seen Jesus crucified, killed on a cross, no one survives that. They were right of course, Jesus didn't survive it he died on the cross for you and for me. The amazing fact is that he defeated death by rising to new life so that we may all share in it with him. I don’t blame the disciples for the way they felt when Mary came back to tell them - they were only human after all! What about our reaction to the resurrection?
As those who live on this side of Easter then we have no excuse but to be joyful about it. Not that we go around with an inane grin on our faces, but that our lives are transformed by the joy that the knowledge of the resurrection brings to those who truly believe in the One who rose from the dead. We need to have that same joy that caused Mary to run and tell all that “He is Risen!”.
Best wishes
Mike
Easter seemed to come around so quickly this year, it was quite a surprise, I’m sure someone has speeded up time! No sooner than the Nativity Figure went away we had Lent! I hope you had a good Lent? Perhaps you did something different?
Talking of surprises the empty tomb must have come as a surprise to Mary and the first disciples. Without the belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even had they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, his crucifixion would have forever silenced any hopes of his being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad and shameful end of his career. The origin of Christianity therefore hinges on the belief of the early disciples that God had raised Jesus from the dead.
There must have been a real mixture of emotions on that first Easter morning: fear, excitement, joy, sadness, apprehension, even disbelief. After all they had seen Jesus crucified, killed on a cross, no one survives that. They were right of course, Jesus didn't survive it he died on the cross for you and for me. The amazing fact is that he defeated death by rising to new life so that we may all share in it with him. I don’t blame the disciples for the way they felt when Mary came back to tell them - they were only human after all! What about our reaction to the resurrection?
As those who live on this side of Easter then we have no excuse but to be joyful about it. Not that we go around with an inane grin on our faces, but that our lives are transformed by the joy that the knowledge of the resurrection brings to those who truly believe in the One who rose from the dead. We need to have that same joy that caused Mary to run and tell all that “He is Risen!”.
Best wishes
Mike
