Dave continued speaking about the importance of Christ’s death and resurrection by looking at 1 Cor 2:1-5 and asking the question why did Christ have to die? In considering the last day of Christ’s life, he looked at John 13, where Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and inaugurated the Last Supper. During this intimate time of fellowship with His twelve disciples, Jesus gave them a vivid explanation of His life and death by inaugurating this memorial service. The bread represented His body and the wine His blood which demonstrated the central importance of Christ’s death to His followers. His divinely appointed death was necessary to bring into being the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, a sacrifice which needs to be appropriated personally. The disciples had to partake in the eating and drinking in the same way that the blood of the Passover lamb had to be sprinkled on the door frames for the firstborn of the Israelites to be spared when the angel of death passed over.

Following the time with His disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus moved on to the Garden of Gethsemane, where, with His closest disciples, Peter, James and John, He prayed for the cup of suffering and wrath to be removed if possible. He knew, however, that what was important was His obedience to the Father’s will, for God’s whole purpose was to save sinners and so Jesus embraced the cup of God’s wrath as the means by which mankind could be saved.

Later, at Golgotha, Christ was crucified. The outward darkness which fell from noon until 3 p.m. (in contrast to the angelic brilliance which heralded His birth at the dead of night) was a symbol of the spiritual darkness which Christ endured; He knew what it was to utter the cry of dereliction from Ps 22:1: ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ Despite this agony, His victorious cry ‘It is finished!’ shows that Christ’s death accomplished God’s plan of salvation.

The cross reveals to us three things:

1. the terrible effect of our sin, which was so weighty that this was the only way God could reconcile mankind to Himself. We need to see the utter seriousness and helplessness of the human condition apart from God.

2. the depth of God’s love for us which is beyond our comprehension. God’s mercy, grace and love overwhelm us. They are freely offered to all and must be freely received; there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

3. There is nothing left for us to pay. The salvation Christ offers us is received by faith. We have to apply what Jesus has done for us by accepting the free gift of salvation and can then know the glory of forgiven sins and receive eternal life. The power of the Cross is such that it relies not on human wisdom but rests entirely on God’s power. ‘There’s nothing more that we can do, for Jesus did it all,’ the old hymn says. Our part is simply to receive the free gift with gratitude and thanks.

Dave spoke from John 20 this morning, looking at how Jesus met with Mary after the Resurrection. You might expect the resurrection accounts to be dazzling and marvellous, given the amazing content of the news that Christ has risen, but as with so many things in the Christian life, God does not always work in the ways we would expect. Instead of bolts of lightning and triumph, we find confused disciples not really knowing what to believe, even after they have been told that Christ is alive. The diversity of the witness accounts in the Gospels should not cause us to doubt the veracity of these accounts, but simply reflects the different perspectives of the people involved.

Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had earlier cast seven demons, had been present at the crucifixion and was desperate to hold on to her Saviour, even if that simply meant helping to anoint His dead body. She, along with the other women, displayed an ability to hold on, even in the midst of grief and suffering. The thought that she could no longer help Jesus was devastating to her, hence her tears. She did not recognise Jesus when she met Him, mistaking Him for the gardener; she could not cope with this amazing news that He was alive again. It was only when He spoke her name that she recognised Him.

Whilst we know that Jesus appeared to His disciples in groups and to more than 500 people on one occasion, the fact remains that the majority of the accounts of the Resurrection are personal: how Jesus appeared to individuals, restoring and reassuring them (as He did with Peter and Thomas and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, for example.) The strugglers and the stragglers were just as important to Jesus as the crowds. The Resurrection – the most earth-shattering event in history – was nonetheless immensely personal. What matters to us today as much as our actual belief in the Resurrection of Christ is that we create a climate in which people can meet Christ for themselves. We need that real and living encounter with a real and living Christ if we are to be transformed as the early disciples were, from fearful, grieving followers to bold apostles, confident and sure in their proclamation of Christ.

As we reach Easter Sunday, our hearts are filled with awe and gladness that we can indeed proclaim that Christ is risen. I often think of what it was like to reach that first day of the week without the benefit of hindsight, however: to view Easter as it must have seemed to the first disciples without the knowledge that appearances do not necessarily tell the whole story, without the knowledge that God is working all things together for good.

Anyone who has lived through any kind of emotional turmoil knows how draining and debilitating it is to see-saw from hope to despair through every range of emotion in between. The disciples had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the exhilarating high of acclamation. (Matt 21:1-11) The Gospels tell us so much of this last week of the life of Christ: the teachings, the miracles, the plots. Then came the talk of betrayal and sorrow, the Last Supper, feet being washed, teachings of the last days. We struggle to take in all this teaching even now, so it must have been exhausting for the disciples: no wonder they fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matt 26:36-46)

The dread and fear they felt at the arrest of Jesus, the sickening realisation that one of them had betrayed Jesus, the hurt and terror that this must have engendered in them cannot simply be ignored by us, for we so often are in that place of dread, fear, hurt and pain. Their differing reactions – blustering violence (Matt 26:51), a desperate need to know what was going on (why else did Peter and John follow into the courtyards?), quiet solidarity in watching the Crucifixion – remind us of how we react to the unknown.

Then there came the quiet obedience of waiting: ‘The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.’ (Luke 23:55-56) How hard it is to wait, to feel impotent, to be able to do nothing at all to change a situation. How long that Sabbath must have seemed. As they remembered God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt, did they have any inkling of the greater deliverance taking place in the world?

Then we have the next stage of the story. ‘When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.’ (Mk 16:1) They knew their duty. They were determined to be faithful to the end. They were still trying to work things out: ‘they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”‘ (Mk 16:3)

So often, that is where we are. Hurt, confused, afraid, we ask questions to which there are no answers. We try to work things out as best we can; we try to answer our prayers ourselves at times, all too often unaware that God is working things out in ways we cannot ever even imagine. When the women arrived at the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away. Their immediate problem had been solved. They had done nothing to solve this, despite their questions and anxiety. Greater things awaited them: the revelation that death was not the end of the story, that God had planned a solution beyond their wildest dreams.

Easter Sunday reminds us very firmly that God is in control, sovereign over all, ruling and reigning in majesty, even though He chooses to work in hidden, invisible ways that to us remain mysterious and unfathomable. We hold on to hope in the midst of darkness; we remind ourselves that the God who delivered Israel from Egypt and raised Christ from the dead is our God: ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom 8:31)

We finished the Easter March of Hope at the Pentecostal church’s coffee morning! Thanks were given to all who had helped, especially the stewards, drummer and standard bearer:

Inside, we enjoyed drinks and cakes:

Thanks to all who helped with the coffee morning and who attended the march. It is another example of churches working together and it was good to proclaim to local residents out and about doing their Saturday shopping that Jesus is alive and Jesus is Lord! What better way to prepare for Easter Sunday?!

This morning, members of various churches in Goldthorpe (including the Salvation Army, the local Anglican church, the Roman Catholic church and ours) joined together for an Easter March of hope and witness.

GPCC members setting off from Market Street

Meeting with other church members on Lockwood Road, near the Roman Catholic Church:

Getting ready to set off!

Marching and singing!

Down past Asda:

Turning right:

We then went up Straight Lane back onto the main road:

We turned back onto Market Street:

… and finished at GPCC car park!:

Don’t forget the Easter March of Hope around Goldthorpe which will start at 10 a.m. today (Easter Saturday) at the Catholic church on Lockwood Road. If you’re not sure where that is, we will be meeting at GPCC for 9. 45 a.m., so you can join us there. We will march around Goldthorpe, proclaiming that Jesus is Lord, returning to our church by about 11 a.m. for drinks at the coffee morning.