7 April

Dear friends,

From the Palm Sunday entry down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem to the tables of the money changers in the temple being overturned, from the last supper in an upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane where several of them slept while he prayed, from Judas’ betraying kiss to him being paraded before Caiaphas, from Peter denying knowing him or being part of his group to his being taken before Pilate, from the soldiers mocking him to and forcing a crown of thorns on his head, the last days and hours of Jesus’ life could hardly have been more dramatic.

And of course, it ends at Calvary, where crucified between two thieves, an abandoned figure commits his spirit to God and breathes his last.

Or so the Chief Priest thought

And so the soldiers thought

And so Pilate thought

And so the disciples thought

And so his mother watching at a distance thought.

Little did any of them know, little could any of them have known, God thought differently.

So join us on Sunday morning when we hear of a stone being moved, a tomb lying empty, and with Christian people the world over we celebrate the rising to life of Life itself.

With every blessing

Russell Barr