Easter day meditation

On this day we proclaim that all is not lost
On this day we defy the powers of death
Those who suppress truth
Those who seek to quench hope
Those who assert their power over others
Those trample on the faces of the poor
Those who kill and maim and destroy:
They shall not win
They shall not win just as those did not win
Who sought to silence the voice of the man from Nazareth
Who sought to extinguish his message of the new Kingdom
The Kingdom where people would live by different rules
They sought to silence him
But wood could not hold him
Metal could not hold him
Stone could not hold him
And they did not win
The Roman Empire is vanished
And nobody cares three straws about Caesar Augustus
But 2000 years later
The voice of the man from Nazareth is still heard
Speaking of love and hope and a different Kingdom
Transforming lives
We will not worship a grave or let destruction triumph
But we will pick up whatever cross we bear
And walk bravely into the future
Where he meets us
He meets us and he challenges us
To roll away the stone wherever hope lies buried
To caress every hand and every heart pierced by sorrow
To let love flow like a never-ending stream
So that blades of grass will burst from the asphalt
And flowers grow in the deserts of despair
For the gentle water breaks the stone,
Yeah, the gentle water breaks the stone

By my friend Annette

In Denmark the daffodil is a symbol of Easter and it is called the passion flower. (påskelilje)

 Image courtesy of James Barker at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Easter Saturday

Today (Easter or holy Saturday)  is the lull between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. However in ancient and medieval Christianity it was an important occasion for the "Harrowing of Hell" was marked. This is the bit of the Easter story when the bible just says Jesus descended into Hell. It is the bit that says he was really dead and not just asleep to wake up on Sunday morning.

Harrowing was an agricultural term for turning over the ground - a bit like ploughing (plowing). It conjurers up a lovely image of Jesus going into the place of the dead and turning everything upside down. There is some fantastic medieval art that depicts Jesus sorting all the demons out. 

This is based on  Christus Victor theory of the atonement which states that Jesus’ death was not a legal settlement with God (as the contemporary evangelicals would have us believe) but rather a battle against the forces of darkness. Descending from the cross into the realm of death, Christ stepped into the arena where humanity confronts death and the works of the devil. Like a brave knight, he fought with these enemies and was victorious which forced them to release humanity from their grip. This theory of the atonement is supported by the bible. 

Colossians 2:15 (RSV) "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him."   1 John 3:8 (RSV) " The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."

So do not treat today as a lull in the action - today is the day of the great cosmic battle!

Image courtesy of arztsamui at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Good Friday

At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” 
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 
When the Roman centurion, who stood facing him, saw the way Jesus breathed his last, he said: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” 
Mark 15.
Death is always sad. Loosing a friend. Potential not achieved. Regretting things never said or done. How much more sad if death is by cruel painful and lengthy execution.
It does not bear thinking about.
Today is a day for weeping with those who weep. In today's world there are too many who are suffering and carrying unbearable burdens.
Make time today to reflect on the suffering of the world and how God suffers with us in the pain.


Photo - my picture of an old metal crucifix.