April fools day is on Palm Sunday this year, and so we will have the chance to play practical jokes and pranks on one another as we come to church. Maybe that’s an appropriate event for April Fools’ Day – some may feel that we are fools to celebrate a King who came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey of all things!
We Christians are used to being made fools of. Even two thousand years ago most believed that the humiliating death of the ‘King of the Jews’ on a brutal cross alongside common criminals was foolish. To suggest that God would actually come to earth to die in such a way is just ridiculous!
On Good Friday we will be getting out on the streets with our own Crewe Passion Play. I always begin by feeling a little foolish as we begin this act of witness with crowds of shoppers looking on bewildered. But I soon remember that this is our big chance to stand up and be counted as Christians in our town – and that is far more important than how I might be feeling.
Although the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus is strange to many in our society, it's a story nobody would have made up. And we must remember that there is plenty of historical evidence that it actually happened – so what does it mean for us?
Like those first disciples, the resurrection gives us a new perspective on our lives; we have a new purpose in life now and hope for life that goes on after we die.
The resurrection shows us that Jesus’ death on the cross was not a tragic defeat but a victory over sin, death and Satan - it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. The resurrection gives us a confident hope for our own bodily resurrection, rather than a vague wish that everything will be alright.
The resurrection ensures that we can know the reality of Jesus’ risen life today. Millions of Christians around the world share this foolishness with us, and are proving by their way of life that Jesus Christ is alive and lives in them, and in us.
We look forward in April to explore the meaning of the resurrection for each of us, and to look forward in May to celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. God hasn’t finished with us yet! He’s still working in us! And he will bring us finally to completion, to resurrection, to glory and to be with him for ever!
No comments:
Post a Comment