The Easter holiday is a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends enjoying the wonders of new growth and life that the spring season brings. Many of us celebrate by giving and receiving chocolate eggs and eating a special holiday meal. Gardens are filled with bright splashes of colour and the days are warmer and longer, symbolising renewal after the cold and darkness of winter. However, for Christians Easter is so much more than this - it is the most important festival in the Christian calendar.
As Easter approaches members of our congregation have shared what it means to them:
Josie enjoys the spring season when we are surrounded by reminders of God’s promise – new life starting to bud and bloom after winter. It is a time of renewal and hope. She describes Easter as being ‘purer’ than Christmas, while Christmas is important it has become more secularised and commercialised. When Josie was a child, she attended church in Oxenhall near Newent. She remembers how when she saw the crucifix in the churchyard it made her feel very sad. As she has got older this sadness has been transformed into joy. She now knows that Jesus’ death was a sacrificial act of love and that He took the punishment for us so that our sins can be forgiven. On Good Friday we remember and reflect on the pain and suffering that Jesus endured for us when he was put to death on a wooden cross. Through His subsequent resurrection we can receive the gift of a new life, offering hope beyond death. Easter Sunday is a joyous time when we commemorate this, we celebrate God’s goodness and remember that we are called to live a transformed life that reflects God’s will.
Dianne and Chris B remember how Easter became real for them whilst on holiday in Jerusalem. They visited the Garden Tomb where they saw an ancient wine press, which supports the idea that the area had been a garden vineyard. When they climbed to the boundary of the garden, they saw a rocky hill which bears the resemblance of a skull – Skull Hill. The way in which these sights reflect the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, as described in the Bible, was very poignant to them. Looking down they saw a bus station and an ancient throughfare which were a stark reminder that it is likely that Jesus was crucified by the road as a public shaming. This was more powerful and sombre than any other depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion in hymns or paintings. Outside the city walls of Jerusalem, Dianne and Chris walked along the Via Dolorosa or ‘Way of Sorrow’ believed to be the path Jesus took to His crucifixion and they imagined the harrowing image of Jesus carrying the cross whilst people went about their normal businesses as if it were just another day.
Chris D also shared her memories of Jerusalem. She found it different to any other city that she has been to - vibrant and full of life. It was so noisy she even felt that the paving stones were speaking! (Imagine the amazing stories that they could share!)
Easter reminds us that amid all the struggles we face in our broken world God offers us the hope of a world made new where all things are healed and pain and sorrow cease. This is the Good News of Easter and is certainly something that we need to celebrate!