The Rector's Easter Message

‘If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.’

(1 Corinthians 15: 19-20)

Very early in the morning of the third day after the crucifixion, the stone is discovered to have been rolled away, and the grave is empty. Jesus is not dead but alive and reveals himself to his disciples who at first do not recognize the risen Christ. They could not quite believe what they saw.

In his letter to the Corinthians St Paul speaks out of his own experience. On the road to Damascus he met the crucified and risen Lord. I have often wondered whether St. Paul ever received a reply to his letter. We know that his readers, despite many problems, remained firm in their faith. The Resurrection of Jesus was the hope upon which their faith was founded. They had hope in this life and in the life to come. We too share this hope. That Jesus will remember us in his kingdom and that when we die, he will fill us with new life now and forever. Faith in the Resurrection is the same thing as faith in the meaning of the Cross. The cross was a symbol of shame and failure, yet Christ made it the sign of love and hope. It was a resurrection to the fuller life in which the soul is no longer confined within the limitations placed upon it by the body.

We don’t know how it happened, but we know that it did happen. Therefore we are not afraid of any criticism which may be levelled against our belief. Nor are we afraid of any new light which scholars and scientists may throw upon the subject. The more it is examined the more clearly its truth will stand out. Something happened which changed the lives of Jesus’ disciples who had been so afraid at the time of the crucifixion. Something happened which changed the lives of millions of people in every age and nation, and which is still doing so today. Christ, though he died was still the life. Death never had him in its power, nor can it hold us, his disciples.

You have often heard people say that the two givens in life are death and taxes. So what about the resurrection to a new life and to live with God forever? We are allowed to doubt but I believe that death will not have the final word. That life is stronger than fear and death and that we will see those we have loved but gone before us. That we will have a future with them in the heavenly realms .

To be a Christian is to believe that when we die, we also are raised from the dead and transformed into a new and everlasting life. Resurrection means a new life in a new body and to live with God for ever. In this hope we look forward to our own Resurrection, when God will transform our bodies into copies of Jesus glorious body. Our hope then in the Resurrection is that God is preparing us even now to share the fulness of eternal life.

Father David

Easter 2025