Opening THE Book 23 with Rev John K-S

April 2020
 

Rev John Kinchin-Smith
Assistant Minister, St Andrew’s Church

I guess many of us are looking forward to Easter Day on the 12th of this month. The supermarkets have been stocking up on chocolate eggs since Valentine’s Day, the card shops with stocks of delightful springtime cards showing baby chicks, lambs, rabbits, and flowers. It all marks a happy end to the winter and an opportunity for some delightful self-indulgence
 
But many people today have no idea why Easter Day is in the calendar or what is its true meaning. For two thousand years almost everyone understood that Easter Day celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead three days after he was brutally executed on a Roman cross. It was the most important Festival in the year, even more so than Christmas. Why did people think this so important?
 
The answer is found in the Bible and in the witness of countless followers of Jesus who have witnessed from their own experience that Jesus rose from the dead, is alive for evermore and that they know him – an extraordinary claim!
 
You can read the story yourself in all four Gospels in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You may be surprised that almost half of each Gospel (which tells the story of Jesus) is taken up with the last week of Jesus’ life: his arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. Much of the rest of the New Testament goes on to help us understand the life-changing effect of Jesus’ death and resurrection both for this life and for life after death
 
St Paul wrote for example, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). St Peter wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you... Though you have not seen him, you love him...you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:3-9). Happy Easter!

as published by St Andrew's Church in the Gorleston Community Magazine

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