An Easter Message

Dear Friends

I write this following the dreadful cyclone Idai which affected Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. It has affected more than 3 million people who are without shelter, sanitation and clean water

Our prayers are with those who have lost loved ones, who are injured and whose lives will be forever changed. But note also the appeals for funds and many hundreds of people helping the victims of this tragedy.

This self-sacrifice is the hallmark of the time of Easter – that one dreadful event brought out so many acts of kindness is testament that despite what we may think, there is a great deal of good in our world.

Where Jesus walked, people are still killing each other and putting mines along their borders to stop their own people leaving the country. The land where Jesus walked and offered peace to all is caught up in genocide and not far from Israel is Syria, where whole cities have been laid bare and desolate. What would Jesus say to all this?

We know that as He approached Jerusalem he cried over that city, for we are told ‘And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it’, asking them if they knew what would bring peace. No one then understood that the peace Jesus offered would cost Him His life. Only five days later, he was cruelly crucified but that was not the end; three days later, He rose again and is alive and lives with us for ever and ever.

That should have been it, peace in the world and in our lives for ever but today, 2000 years later what has changed? The poor are trampled on and the rich get richer and complain they are not treated fairly; those in leadership try and lead by fear and freedom of speech is restricted. We know what Jesus would do. He would weep over the world and ask if they knew the cost of bringing peace. The cost, as it was then, is His life, being given and crucified over and over again until the world knows ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away, behold, I make all things new’.

This is the message of Easter: Jesus, the Lamb of God, freely walked to His death because of His love for me. Is it any wonder then that my response must be to fall at His feet, worship Him and give to him ‘my soul, my life, my all’.

May I wish you all a very Happy Easter. God Bless. Julie