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Viewpoint from Rev Rosie Bunn 14/04/2023
 Rev Rosie Bunn
Rector of All Saints Church, Belton
and
St Peter & St Paul Church, Burgh Castle
For many Easter is over and done; the Easter eggs have been eaten and the Easter holidays are drawing to an end. You might be surprised to find out that the Easter season in the church continues for another six weeks until the beginning of June and we celebrate Whit Sunday/Pentecost
During the coming weeks in the Anglican churches, we shall be looking at the different occasions when Jesus appeared to his disciples; in the room where they were hiding in fear behind locked doors; on the road to Emmaus when two of his disciples explained to Jesus himself what had been happening in Jerusalem and how their friend and teacher had been crucified, and again when Jesus met with his disciples to teach them, and his ascension at Bethany. There is also the occasion when Jesus cooked breakfast on the beach fort the disciples who had been out fishing and caught nothing, and his conversation of reconciliation with Peter
 You might be wondering, Why is Easter so important? Well, it’s the foundation of the Christian faith. It is the time when we are thankful for Jesus’ death on the cross in a once and for all offering of himself so that we might know the forgiveness of God, and be able to have a restored relationship with Him. It’s Jesus’ death and his resurrection together that Christians believe opens up the invitation and opportunity for acceptance of new and eternal life for each and every person. If Jesus has not risen from the dead, but simply died and not been resurrected, Jesus would have been thought of as just another prophet or teacher, but his resurrection challenges that assumption and provides proof that Jesus is the Son of God, as he said he was
I am always grateful for the disciple Thomas, who asked the difficult questions and is often known as Doubting Thomas. Because he wouldn’t just believe what the other disciples told him and said that he wanted to see the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands, and to put his finger in the mark of the nails and his hand in Jesus’ side, which Jesus subsequently allowed, he provides one of the proofs for us that the resurrection actually happened
Easter is the gateway of hope for the future. A familiar reading for funerals is John 14 verses 1-14 where Jesus, whilst teaching his disciples about what is going to happen to him, tells them that they are not to let their hearts be troubled, but to believe in God and to believe in Jesus himself, because he was going away to prepare a place for them (in Heaven) because in the Father’s house there are many dwelling places
Easter can be rather like Christmas if we focus on the chocolate and the decorations until they are either eaten or put away for another year. But for Christians, Easter is the key to life in all its fullness as followers of Jesus, knowing God’s transforming love and the comfort and hope of knowing there is a place for us now and at the end of our lives
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