Easter is a Movable Feast, and the date can change a lot from one year to the next. This year in 2010, Easter was on April 4th. Next year, in 2011, Easter Sunday will be April 24th. That's almost as late as it ever gets (not counting the Easter dates of the Orthodox Churches).
Lent begins six and a half weeks before Easter, on Ash Wednesday, which will be 9th March in 2011.
So don't let the next Lent and Easter creep up on you unawares. Be ready.
Only 47 and a half weeks until Ash Wednesday, and 54 weeks until next Easter Sunday!
I hope you have enjoyed journeying through Lent with me, exploring last year's prayer and labyrinth themes, and this year's pot pourri (i.e. no theme!).
Have a good year and come back for more next time.
This site might be rather quiet until Lent approaches again, but in the meantime feel free to make comments and ask questions. I'll be listening!
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Resurrection Day is Here
Puzzled, frightened, rejected, amazed.
The first people to encounter the empty tomb were all of these, and probably more than these.
These are natural reactions to what happened.
The women went to the tomb of their loved one, to pay their last respects, to complete the burial rites, for which there had been no time before the Sabbath started.
When they got there, the tomb had been opened, the body had gone, and the grave-clothes were left lying, as if the body had slipped out without disturbing them. It was indeed puzzling. What could have happened? Who could have done this? And why would anyone do such a thing? It was amazing. If it happened to you, you would be amazed.
As they stood there, puzzled and bemused, two angels appeared. Yet another amazing thing. Quite rightly, the women were terrified. Whatever next! It’s not natural. Anything could happen in the next half-hour. No wonder they pressed themselves to the ground. Talk about keeping a low profile!
The angels told them that Jesus wasn’t there anymore, that he wasn’t dead but he had been raised to life, just as he said he would.
The women remembered. And hope stirred into life in their hearts. Could it be true, that Jesus was alive? They rushed off to tell the other disciples. But John’s Gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene stayed behind, crying. She just couldn’t believe it.
And John tells us that Jesus came to her. Through her tears she thought he was the gardener. But he wasn’t. It really was Jesus. And soon she went running after the other ladies.
The other ladies got there first, and blurted out their amazing story of an empty tomb and two angels. They told the disciples what the angels had said.
But the disciples couldn’t believe the women either. It was all nonsense. Most of those male disciples didn’t even believe the women enough to go and check it out for themselves. It was too incredible. Too amazing.
The women must have felt even more distraught, even rejected. Their beloved Jesus had died, and when they went to honour his body, it was gone. And even worse, these ignorant men wouldn’t believe them. It was all too much.
But Peter and John looked at each other across the room. They had been with Jesus on the mountain top. They had seen the glory of God upon him. They had seen him meet with two heavenly beings, perhaps Elijah and Moses. That was an amazing experience, and they hadn’t told anyone. After all, who would have believed them.
And now this. Was it really unbelievable, after all they had seen Jesus do? So Peter and John slipped out, before Mary had arrived with her news of having seen and spoken to Jesus, of having touched him.
Peter and John had set off running to the tomb. John got there first, but it was too puzzling and frightening to go in by himself. Then bold Peter arrived, that rash fisherman, and he went straight in. No-one was going to pull the wool over his eyes.
Someone had been messing about with Jesus’ grave, rolling the stone away, disturbing the body. Not on his watch, they weren’t.
But when Peter looked in he was amazed. Not that the stone was rolled away, the women had already told him that. Not that the body was gone, because the women had told him that too.
No, he was amazed because the linen grave wrappings were still lying there, undisturbed. It was bizarre, unheard of, truly amazing.
After all, when Jesus raised Lazarus to life, Lazarus had walked out of the tomb himself, still wrapped in the grave clothes.
If someone had taken Jesus’ body, to stop it becoming an object of worship and veneration, they wouldn’t have unwrapped it and left the clothes lying neatly wrapped up as if the body was still there.
This was no trick, trying to pretend to a parent that the child was still in bed, when the child was downstairs playing with his toys.
It was mysterious, puzzling, frightening, worrying, upsetting, amazing.
Something had definitely happened. But what? By whom? And how?
Imagine if you had been there - that first Easter Sunday. You would have been able to sort out that mess. You could have told them.
You dunderheids! (as my Dad might have said).
Jesus said he was going to come back after three days.
He’s probably waiting for you back at the Upper Room.
You were wasting your time coming here.
You should have known that.
And I don’t know why you’ve been moping around all weekend.
You should have been having a party.
Jesus’ death wasn’t a disaster. It was a victory! Jesus has won!
If you came back with me to my church in Scotland you would see that for yourself. Every Sunday we have a big celebration, like a party, celebrating Jesus’ death, his new life, his victory.
Everybody’s there. It’s such a great party no-one would want to miss it. And if anyone doesn’t know about it, well we tell them, no messing.
It’s the greatest news of all time. The Creator of the Universe, lived as a Man, died as a Man, and was raised to life to prove it.
Everyone’s invited to the party. Our weekly parties are just a foretaste of the great banquet in heaven.
You think you’ve been to good parties. Well you’ve never been to one hosted by the God himself, the one who spoke the world into existence.
Oh. I forgot. Of course you have been to his parties. You were with him those past three years. Silly me. He used to invite himself, didn’t he? That must have been so great.
You were just sitting there in your house, minding your own business, getting on with the dusting and cleaning, you know. When all of a sudden, Ding Dong! The doorbell rings.
You go to answer it, and it’s Jesus, come to tea. Wow! Imagine that! What would you say, apart from “Please come in.”
You’d have to apologise for the state of the place, not enough seats, not enough cushions, not enough space at the table, not enough food, too much dust, too much dirt, and on and on.
Woah, woah, woah. There’s no need for any fuss. I used to be a builder. Just a cup of tea and a jeely piece, and I’ll be fine. No need for any ceremony with me. Just invite me in, and I’ll stay as long as you like.
You’ve probably got some questions. What would you like to know?
Who rolled the stone away? How did you get out of the grave-clothes without messing them up? And how come, if you can walk through locked doors, you had to ring the doorbell today?
Ah, yes, tricky questions, some of those. But as for the last one, that’s answered in the Bible already. Good old John wrote it down for me, in his book of Revelation, in chapter 3, [verses 20 & 21]:
“Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me. To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne.”
And Luke has already given you my invitation,
“Come, everything is ready.” [Luke 14:17]
The first people to encounter the empty tomb were all of these, and probably more than these.
These are natural reactions to what happened.
The women went to the tomb of their loved one, to pay their last respects, to complete the burial rites, for which there had been no time before the Sabbath started.
When they got there, the tomb had been opened, the body had gone, and the grave-clothes were left lying, as if the body had slipped out without disturbing them. It was indeed puzzling. What could have happened? Who could have done this? And why would anyone do such a thing? It was amazing. If it happened to you, you would be amazed.
As they stood there, puzzled and bemused, two angels appeared. Yet another amazing thing. Quite rightly, the women were terrified. Whatever next! It’s not natural. Anything could happen in the next half-hour. No wonder they pressed themselves to the ground. Talk about keeping a low profile!
The angels told them that Jesus wasn’t there anymore, that he wasn’t dead but he had been raised to life, just as he said he would.
The women remembered. And hope stirred into life in their hearts. Could it be true, that Jesus was alive? They rushed off to tell the other disciples. But John’s Gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene stayed behind, crying. She just couldn’t believe it.
And John tells us that Jesus came to her. Through her tears she thought he was the gardener. But he wasn’t. It really was Jesus. And soon she went running after the other ladies.
The other ladies got there first, and blurted out their amazing story of an empty tomb and two angels. They told the disciples what the angels had said.
But the disciples couldn’t believe the women either. It was all nonsense. Most of those male disciples didn’t even believe the women enough to go and check it out for themselves. It was too incredible. Too amazing.
The women must have felt even more distraught, even rejected. Their beloved Jesus had died, and when they went to honour his body, it was gone. And even worse, these ignorant men wouldn’t believe them. It was all too much.
But Peter and John looked at each other across the room. They had been with Jesus on the mountain top. They had seen the glory of God upon him. They had seen him meet with two heavenly beings, perhaps Elijah and Moses. That was an amazing experience, and they hadn’t told anyone. After all, who would have believed them.
And now this. Was it really unbelievable, after all they had seen Jesus do? So Peter and John slipped out, before Mary had arrived with her news of having seen and spoken to Jesus, of having touched him.
Peter and John had set off running to the tomb. John got there first, but it was too puzzling and frightening to go in by himself. Then bold Peter arrived, that rash fisherman, and he went straight in. No-one was going to pull the wool over his eyes.
Someone had been messing about with Jesus’ grave, rolling the stone away, disturbing the body. Not on his watch, they weren’t.
But when Peter looked in he was amazed. Not that the stone was rolled away, the women had already told him that. Not that the body was gone, because the women had told him that too.
No, he was amazed because the linen grave wrappings were still lying there, undisturbed. It was bizarre, unheard of, truly amazing.
After all, when Jesus raised Lazarus to life, Lazarus had walked out of the tomb himself, still wrapped in the grave clothes.
If someone had taken Jesus’ body, to stop it becoming an object of worship and veneration, they wouldn’t have unwrapped it and left the clothes lying neatly wrapped up as if the body was still there.
This was no trick, trying to pretend to a parent that the child was still in bed, when the child was downstairs playing with his toys.
It was mysterious, puzzling, frightening, worrying, upsetting, amazing.
Something had definitely happened. But what? By whom? And how?
Imagine if you had been there - that first Easter Sunday. You would have been able to sort out that mess. You could have told them.
You dunderheids! (as my Dad might have said).
Jesus said he was going to come back after three days.
He’s probably waiting for you back at the Upper Room.
You were wasting your time coming here.
You should have known that.
And I don’t know why you’ve been moping around all weekend.
You should have been having a party.
Jesus’ death wasn’t a disaster. It was a victory! Jesus has won!
If you came back with me to my church in Scotland you would see that for yourself. Every Sunday we have a big celebration, like a party, celebrating Jesus’ death, his new life, his victory.
Everybody’s there. It’s such a great party no-one would want to miss it. And if anyone doesn’t know about it, well we tell them, no messing.
It’s the greatest news of all time. The Creator of the Universe, lived as a Man, died as a Man, and was raised to life to prove it.
Everyone’s invited to the party. Our weekly parties are just a foretaste of the great banquet in heaven.
You think you’ve been to good parties. Well you’ve never been to one hosted by the God himself, the one who spoke the world into existence.
Oh. I forgot. Of course you have been to his parties. You were with him those past three years. Silly me. He used to invite himself, didn’t he? That must have been so great.
You were just sitting there in your house, minding your own business, getting on with the dusting and cleaning, you know. When all of a sudden, Ding Dong! The doorbell rings.
You go to answer it, and it’s Jesus, come to tea. Wow! Imagine that! What would you say, apart from “Please come in.”
You’d have to apologise for the state of the place, not enough seats, not enough cushions, not enough space at the table, not enough food, too much dust, too much dirt, and on and on.
Woah, woah, woah. There’s no need for any fuss. I used to be a builder. Just a cup of tea and a jeely piece, and I’ll be fine. No need for any ceremony with me. Just invite me in, and I’ll stay as long as you like.
You’ve probably got some questions. What would you like to know?
Who rolled the stone away? How did you get out of the grave-clothes without messing them up? And how come, if you can walk through locked doors, you had to ring the doorbell today?
Ah, yes, tricky questions, some of those. But as for the last one, that’s answered in the Bible already. Good old John wrote it down for me, in his book of Revelation, in chapter 3, [verses 20 & 21]:
“Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me. To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne.”
And Luke has already given you my invitation,
“Come, everything is ready.” [Luke 14:17]
Friday, 2 April 2010
Good Friday is Good
Today is a strange day.
We call it Good Friday, but it doesn’t feel very Good.
For those first disciples, gathered around the Cross, but keeping their distance too, it was an awful day, a disastrous day.
They didn’t think it was a Good Friday.
For many people today is a public holiday. And for even more people, Monday also will be a public holiday.
The Easter Holiday is a bigger holiday even than Christmas, and so it should be.
Of course, Easter is always at the weekend, so every year there is a three or four day holiday to look forward to.
Christmas and New Year cycle through the weekdays too. Thus the Christmas & New Year holiday time is often broken up into little bits, one or two days at a time. And it’s usually pretty cold at Christmas and New Year.
Whereas at Easter, it’s the beginning of Spring, so it's warm - right?
But it’s not been so warm these past few days!
At least, not in Scotland, where we had more snow on March 30th!
It’s a Public Holiday weekend, for the greatest Christian festival of the year. But instead of everyone piling down to the church on the Friday night, it is only the die-hards, the faithful few, and maybe a few newcomers, who come along to see what it’s all about.
After all, most folk don’t go to church the rest of the year, so why should they come at Easter, instead of going away on holiday.
That’s the key question. And the answer is found in the same reason that today is called Good Friday.
It is the day we remember that Jesus died.
And so we return to the strange fact that on Good Friday, we remember that someone died - Jesus died.
If Jesus had been an ordinary person, then Good Friday would never have been Good. It would just be the same as any other day of the week.
In fact, it is questionable whether we would even have a weekend, if Jesus had been an ordinary person. The beginning and end of the week are defined by Sunday. And Sunday became important because it was the day that Jesus rose from the grave.
Yes, Good Friday is Good, because Jesus was special. Jesus was God, but He set aside his divinity and was born like everyone else.
He died like everyone else too. But in between, Jesus was special. Not because He was God, but because he lived a perfect life. Jesus was Good, whereas everyone else, including you and me, is not Good.
Jesus was killed on the Cross, even though he had committed no crime, not only by those wicked people who killed him. He was killed on the Cross by you and me too, because we are not Good.
Jesus laid down his life, he offered it to those who sought to kill him, he gave his life, for you and for me.
That is why this Friday, is Good Friday, because Jesus is Good.
And because Jesus was Good, God raised him to life, because it could not be that an innocent man should die. Jesus had done nothing wrong - ever. Those who Follow Jesus join him in that Eternal Life.
All those folk who are rushing off on holiday, heedless of the church services happening during this week, and over the weekend, are missing the opportunity of a lifetime, for an even better holiday, than the holiday they are heading for.
God offers every person a permanent place in his home. Your Father in heaven has many mansions, and many rooms, and there is one there waiting just for you.
Jesus has the key to your room. He won the right to hand out the keys when he laid down his life on the Cross.
If you turn away from your earthly pursuits,
Away from extravagant holidays,
Away from the pursuit of wealth,
Away from the search for the next pleasure,
Away from the glorification of sex,
And Follow Jesus, then you will find that He has given you the Key.
That Key is the reason we call today Good Friday.
We know that - it is why most of us are here.
And if you are still searching for the Key,
That Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything,
Then the answer is Jesus. He has the Key.
When we think of the horrors of the Cross,
And the despair of the Grave,
Then remember that beyond the Grave, came the Resurrection.
Jesus invites you, me, everyone, to join Him in eternity.
Jesus is alive. He is with us by His Spirit. He has the Keys.
Today truly is Good Friday!
We call it Good Friday, but it doesn’t feel very Good.
For those first disciples, gathered around the Cross, but keeping their distance too, it was an awful day, a disastrous day.
They didn’t think it was a Good Friday.
For many people today is a public holiday. And for even more people, Monday also will be a public holiday.
The Easter Holiday is a bigger holiday even than Christmas, and so it should be.
Of course, Easter is always at the weekend, so every year there is a three or four day holiday to look forward to.
Christmas and New Year cycle through the weekdays too. Thus the Christmas & New Year holiday time is often broken up into little bits, one or two days at a time. And it’s usually pretty cold at Christmas and New Year.
Whereas at Easter, it’s the beginning of Spring, so it's warm - right?
But it’s not been so warm these past few days!
At least, not in Scotland, where we had more snow on March 30th!
It’s a Public Holiday weekend, for the greatest Christian festival of the year. But instead of everyone piling down to the church on the Friday night, it is only the die-hards, the faithful few, and maybe a few newcomers, who come along to see what it’s all about.
After all, most folk don’t go to church the rest of the year, so why should they come at Easter, instead of going away on holiday.
That’s the key question. And the answer is found in the same reason that today is called Good Friday.
It is the day we remember that Jesus died.
And so we return to the strange fact that on Good Friday, we remember that someone died - Jesus died.
If Jesus had been an ordinary person, then Good Friday would never have been Good. It would just be the same as any other day of the week.
In fact, it is questionable whether we would even have a weekend, if Jesus had been an ordinary person. The beginning and end of the week are defined by Sunday. And Sunday became important because it was the day that Jesus rose from the grave.
Yes, Good Friday is Good, because Jesus was special. Jesus was God, but He set aside his divinity and was born like everyone else.
He died like everyone else too. But in between, Jesus was special. Not because He was God, but because he lived a perfect life. Jesus was Good, whereas everyone else, including you and me, is not Good.
Jesus was killed on the Cross, even though he had committed no crime, not only by those wicked people who killed him. He was killed on the Cross by you and me too, because we are not Good.
Jesus laid down his life, he offered it to those who sought to kill him, he gave his life, for you and for me.
That is why this Friday, is Good Friday, because Jesus is Good.
And because Jesus was Good, God raised him to life, because it could not be that an innocent man should die. Jesus had done nothing wrong - ever. Those who Follow Jesus join him in that Eternal Life.
All those folk who are rushing off on holiday, heedless of the church services happening during this week, and over the weekend, are missing the opportunity of a lifetime, for an even better holiday, than the holiday they are heading for.
God offers every person a permanent place in his home. Your Father in heaven has many mansions, and many rooms, and there is one there waiting just for you.
Jesus has the key to your room. He won the right to hand out the keys when he laid down his life on the Cross.
If you turn away from your earthly pursuits,
Away from extravagant holidays,
Away from the pursuit of wealth,
Away from the search for the next pleasure,
Away from the glorification of sex,
And Follow Jesus, then you will find that He has given you the Key.
That Key is the reason we call today Good Friday.
We know that - it is why most of us are here.
And if you are still searching for the Key,
That Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything,
Then the answer is Jesus. He has the Key.
When we think of the horrors of the Cross,
And the despair of the Grave,
Then remember that beyond the Grave, came the Resurrection.
Jesus invites you, me, everyone, to join Him in eternity.
Jesus is alive. He is with us by His Spirit. He has the Keys.
Today truly is Good Friday!
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