The Easter Story: A never ending story

The Easter story is one that is familiar, or at least there is an awareness of it in the Western consciousness. It is celebrated every year and retold, in various stages and various ways, across the world. But like a lot of Christian stories, it has become lost in a fog of half-remembered Sunday school sessions, strange rituals and bizarre traditions. Some of these traditions have been borrowed from other places or imbued with forgotten symbolism.

The story that surrounds Jesus and his death and resurrection is complex, multilayered and, if it is to be believed, dangerous. It is not just the story of one man from a obscure Middle-Eastern town who met a violent and untimely death at the hands of a cruel, oppressive army. It is the story of a nation with thousands of years of heritage. It is the story of God's rescue plan. It is the story of humanity. It is the Grand Narrative. It began at the creation of time and space itself. By the time the serpent had tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit and they were meeting the consequences, the victory had already been promised. This promise of victory was one that was retold and reiterated in various forms over the next few millennia. It was something that was a part of Israel's identity. It embodied their hopes and dreams; it informed their fears and failures. As one Christmas carol puts it: "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

One spring morning about two thousand years ago, all these threads wove together to create the most important event in the history of mankind. The promise to Abraham, the Passover story, the prophets' ancient words, the political struggles of a nation, the desperation of God's people, the acts of sin and rebellion of all humanity: all of this came together on the cross of Jesus' crucifixion.

And yet, an amazing part of it is that this was not the end. The crucifixion and resurrection was the final victory, but it was also a heralding of something to come. Jesus' resurrection meant that he defeated the power of sin (being death) and it ushered in a world that was made whole and innocent again. Jesus, the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings, would heal the world of the scars of sin. Jesus, the King of Kings, would reign over this world. Jesus, the High-Priest, would mediate between us and God. Jesus, the Creator of the world, would recreate the world anew.

This is the present truth. Jesus is the Son of Righteousness, the King of Kings, the High-Priest, the Creator. Jesus' Kingdom is already here. But the resurrection also tells of a coming truth, when Jesus will come again and will once and for all establish His rule over the earth. This is and will be the eternal truth.

Today, Christians are duel citizens: we live both in the present, where Jesus is the things that he claims to be, and we live in eternity. Philippians 3:20-21 says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

But our challenge as Christians today is to live as citizens of heaven. We are to live as if Jesus' healing power, His sovereignty, His ability to reunite us with God, His renewing strength are present truths. We are to proclaim it in all we do; we are to bring it about where we can. When asked why we have the hope that we do, we need to answer loudly and sincerely:

Christ has died! Christ has risen! Christ will come again!

The Easter Story: An Empty Tomb

The light was grey and ethereal; it was just before dawn. Strange shadows and shapes could just be made out. The cemetery, with gaping mouths cut into the rock gagged shut with stones, was usually quiet and empty. This morning, however, Roman guards stood watch. The great might of the empire sent to watch the dead.

Some women, carrying cloth and jars, silently moved amongst the graves. They walked past the guards and to the tomb they were visiting. But something was wrong. The women let out sighs and moans of anguish. Had their hearts not borne enough sorrow? One threw the linen to the floor, turned and began to run. "Mary!" the others cried, but too late for she was gone.

The light of dawn was creeping among the caves now. Everything was lit in orange and reds. Mary returned, this time with a group of men. She pointed at a mouth of a cave, one where the entrance was not blocked by a stone. One of the men looked inside. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom, and he saw that it was empty except for a pile of linen. The other men rushed in, turning as if expecting to find something inside.

The men then left, as quickly as the came. They seemed disturbed by what they had seen, or by what they had not. Mary, the woman, stayed. She stood by the tomb, weeping. She had not yet gathered enough strength to look into the tomb again.

She bent to look into the low doorway of the cave. In the tomb were two figures, sitting on the slab for the body.
  "Why are you crying?" they asked.
  "They have taken the body of my Lord," she stammered. She was confused and exhausted. Who were these two men? Where had they come from? She looked back behind her and another man had appeared. He repeated the question.
  "Why are you crying?" the man asked. "Who are you looking for?"
  "Sir," Mary pleaded, hoping he would know something, "if you have put him somewhere, tell me."
The man paused. Then he said just one word.
  "Mary."

Commentary
This is perhaps the most important conversation to have ever happened and half those involved had little idea as to what was happening. Poor Mary Magdalene: she saw someone she loved die in a horrific manner three days before and then whilst trying to grieve she discovered his body had disappeared. But she was to be the first witness to the most incredible event in history. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.

But what does it mean for us? It means so much. It means that death has been defeated, the price of sin was paid, reconciliation with God the Father. It is a day of triumph and victory. Jesus knew, as he spoke his last words, what the significance of it all was.

It is finished.

The Easter Story: A bruised heel

Joseph of Arimathea looked at what was before him.

A corpse lay there broken, cut and bloodied. His face was stained red from the wounds to the head; his hair was matted and clotted. For the soldiers had placed a ring of thorns, a crown of scorn, and pushed it hard into his scalp. King of the Jews. They joked and mocked. They laughed as he was dying.

His lips were dry and chapped. It was these lips that had said so much that had brought so much hope. But in the end they could only utter a few words. Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani? My God, they cried, my God, why have you forsaken me? The words trembled and tumbled out of his mouth. The God that he had poured out prayers to the previous night, the God that declared him loved, the God that sent him had left him to die alone. This man had died so desperately alone.

A web of wounds covered his back. The skin and flesh had been torn and cut and split. Hues of crimson and black and blue ran into each other. The blood had set thick like scum: dark and dirtied. They had whipped him and lashed him until his back was nothing more than a net of gashes.

Then there were his hands. His wrists bore great holes, as thick as a finger. These were where the nails went, driven in with hammers, sending spasms of agony into the hands, forcing them clawed and bent. His feet too were pierced. The wounds here were gapping as the weight of the man caused the nails to dig and cut. Tendons and bones could be seen amongst the muck.

Joseph shock with the horror of it. This innocent man was now such a pitiful sight. A corpse looks so terribly small and so terribly sad. None so more as this.

But Joseph breathed a deep breath and roused himself to do what he had come for. He took strips of linen that he had bought. He began to wrap the cloth around the broken body. He covered the feet, the torso, the hands, the head. His shaking hands had to work quickly; it was nearly the Sabbath and it had to be done before then.

As the last strip covered the dead man's face, Joseph thought this would be the last time anyone would see the face of Jesus. His last words rang through Joseph's mind. It is finished.

(Mark 15; John 19)

Commentary
I often wonder what went through the minds of the spectators as Jesus died, or how those who had known Jesus had felt. What was Peter feeling? Or John? Or Jesus' mother as she watched her loved son die. How much heartbreak was there that day?

The Bible does not tell us, so we can only attempt to imagine the grief, confusion and despair that this event brought to Jesus' loved ones. It does, however, tell us some of Jesus' feelings and thoughts.

Despite the great physical pain that Jesus encountered, little is said about his response to that. It was the emotional anguish of being separated from his heavenly father that the Bible reveals. Jesus had been cut off from the Lord's gaze. As his bloodied and broken body bore the sins of mankind, he was left to bear this burden alone. Jesus, in his deep pain, turns to the scripture that he knows and cries out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" These are the words of such sorrow.

Yet, there was more that he had said. I wonder what the disciples made of his statement of triumph, "It is finished". Did they think it was a statement of defeat, declaring the end to Jesus' ministry and the promises he had given? But as Jesus' lifeless body was removed from the cross, they must have thought about how it had come to such a sudden and brutal end.

Of course, we now know that it was just the beginning.

The Easter Story: The Servant

THE CITY OF DAVID (JERUSALEM), SEVENTH CENTURY BC.

This was a time of political turmoil. The nation of the Israelites had been split in two. To the south was the Kingdom of Judah; to the north was the Kingdom of Israel. The house of the Lord was divided. This was not the only trouble God's people faced. The Assyrians were growing stronger and were exerting their power and authority over their neighbours. They had already conquered the countries of Aram and Canaan. Treaties were forming and breaking; invading armies beat at the borders of Judah.

In the midst of all this was the City of David.

The City of David stood beneath the imposing Temple of Solomon. In this temple, the people worshipped. The sound of prayers and the smell of burnt offerings would float down, past the palace, to the city. The crowded city was ensconced in walls that weaved down the side of Mount Moriah, overlooking the steep Kidron valley. Within the boundaries of these walls lived a prophet: Isaiah.

Isaiah was burdened with a terrible message from the Lord. The prophet had been told of the coming peril of his people. If they were to continue in their sinful ways, the Lord would bring the might of the Babylonians to them. The holy mountain of Jerusalem will fall; the Lord's people will be captive, just as they were in Egypt those many years ago. Even the righteous king, Hezekiah, was not able to stop the Israelites and their contemptible ways.

But the Lord, in his mercy, also promised the restoration of His people. Just as the Lord had taken His people from the bowels of Egypt, He would rescue them from the Babylonians. And there was more. The Lord will send a servant that would save His people.

But, how this servant will suffer! He will be crushed, pierced, whipped, condemned, despised. He will die the death of a traitor, a criminal, a rebel. And yet he is innocent! It is not his sins he will die for, for he will do no wrong. He will not transgress; but it is for the transgressors he will be killed. What terrible sorrows would weigh him down! But mark, those are our sorrows upon his shoulders.

Who is this servant that would take other's sins upon him? Who will be lead like a lamb to the slaughter for our sakes? These were the questions of the lips of the Lord's people for the next three hundred years. And it would not be until a young mother gave birth in a stable that the world would see the answer.

(Isaiah 53)

Commentary
The fifty-third book of Isaiah is a beautifully poetic prophecy of the servant's suffering. This servant was unremarkable in many ways: he was tender, at a young age and had no particular beauty of majesty. Yet, what this servant would do was anything but unremarkable. The way in which he would go about it, as well, is nothing short of shocking and extraordinary.

This servant would be crushed, pierced, rejected, oppressed and punished. For what, though? There was nothing that he had done that deserved this treatment. It was us, however, that had deserved this. It was our sins that he bore. Not only did he die for the transgressors, but he prayed for them. He prayed for the ones who had caused his pain. How selfless and remarkable is that?

This is a heart-breaking summary of the crucifixion story. It has the scorn and shame; the brutal torture and death; even the prayer for the transgressors. Although it seems unlikely that this passage could be any more astonishing, the fact that it was written three-hundred years before Jesus' crucifixion story is amazing. 

There is nothing that can be said that this passage does not say clearly and beautifully. I shall leave you with a modern version of an old hymn, O Sacred Head. This hymn speaks of the pain and the tragedy of the servant's ordeal. Perhaps listen and reflect on the beauty and the tragedy of the cross.

The Easter Story: The Last Supper

AN UPPER ROOM, ISRAEL. TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

It had been over a thousand years since Moses had led his people from the lands of Egypt. The Lord had commanded them to remember the day they were freed, and the day that the angel of the Lord had passed over them and the Israelites lived.

The whole of Jerusalem was alive. The Jewish had come for miles around. Even towns outside of the capital were full. People slept on the hillsides, rooms were full and the streets were crowded. The people of Israel were preparing the celebrations; they were getting ready to remember.

One thousand years ago, the Israelites had been under the Egyptian oppressors. Now, they were under Roman rule. The Romans were strong and harsh: the taxes were heavy, the soldiers were ever-present, they would quash rebellion with decisive brutality.

Somewhere, in the midst of this, Jesus and his disciples were eating together.

Jesus picked up the bread, and thanked the Lord for it. He told the disciples, "This is my body." With this bread, he took it, and he tore it. The crust cracked and crumbs fell to the table. The body was broken. He passed the bread around and the disciples ate it.

Then, Jesus picked up the dark, crimson wine and thanked the Lord God for it. As the disciples drank from the cup, Jesus told them, "This is my blood".

Blood would flow again, and once more it would save the people from the threat of death. It would free them from oppression.

(Mark 14; Matthew 26)

Commentary
Although it may be anachronistic to say that Jesus' actions and words was a part of the Passover Seder (a ritualised meal to celebrate the Passover, that was not recorded until the ninth century), there are definite parallels between the events of the Egyptian exodus and what Jesus was doing here. I doubt it was coincidence that Jesus' death happened during the Passover week.

Jesus' blood was being shed; like in Egypt it was to save from death, like in Egypt it was to free his people from oppression. This was not a political oppression, however. Although the Jewish community had long been waiting for someone to save them from Roman rule, something different was going on here. If Jesus was to save them from the Romans, who would save them the next time, and the next? Something greater needed to happen: something that would transcend governments, wars and powers.

It is no wonder, then, that Christianity is no longer a Western faith. Christianity has become the faith of Central and South America, Africa and even China. It is not where political freedom and stability is found where the need for Christianity is found most keenly. It is where corruption and oppression dwell where Jesus' words hold the most resonance. Jesus, it seemed, was never for the comfortable. He would bring joy to the poor and marginalised; he would ruffle the feathers of the well-to-do and the powerful. Jesus is the King of Kings, but not in the way that we would expect. 

The Easter Story: The First Passover

EGYPT. THREE AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS AGO.

That night the country erupted in wailing. Low moans and terrible cries filled the heavy air. Grief and death - so thick, so tangible - hung over every house in the land. The eldest son in every family across the land was now dead: in every family except those of the Israelites. They had been spared; the Angel of Death had not entered their homes that night.

Days earlier, the Israelites received the news that they were to be freed. The Lord was to rescue his people from harsh slavery and oppression. The Israelites were told what they must do to prepare for their escape.

They were to cook a lamb or young goat. They were to dip a sprig of hyssop into its blood and wipe the blood onto their door posts. They were to eat the meal and burn any leftovers, Then, they were to prepare to travel. They were not to leave their house until the morning.

The Pharaoh had known. He knew that the Israelites were planning to leave; he knew the Lord would kill the first-born son if he did not let them. But Pharaoh did not free them. His stubbornness was to be a curse upon his people.

And so the Lord passed through Egypt and the Angel of Death entered each house. The Egyptians awoke to the find their loved ones dead. Wailing and crying pierced the night. But the Israelites were safe. The smear of blood on the door protected them: a sign they were to be left unharmed.

In the morning, the Egyptians begged the Israelites to leave. The people of Israel walked from the place of their enslavement. They were alive. They were free.

Blood had been shed to free the Lord's people. It was the sign of this blood that kept them from death. This would not be the last time that blood needed to flow for the Lord's people to be free and to be alive. That would happen, though, one and a half thousand years later, when the Lord's people were under new oppressors.

(Exodus 12)

Commentary
God is a God who saves. Time and time again he saves his people from calamity and oppression. He saved the Israelites from Egypt, God helps Gideon defeat the Midianites, He saves Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the furnace. God is a God who saves.

What is just as startling as God's willingness to save his people is their constant need of saving. The frequency at which God bails them out of some problem or other is pretty much constant. People need saving. From the moment Cain killed Abel, it was obvious we need rescuing from the sin or others or, more likely, ourselves. Surely, there must be something God can do that will save us once and for all? The problems of the world are great and many; only something spectacular could rescue us from them.

Some people think that we don't need saving. Ultimately, we all need saving from death. Here, God proves his ability to do just that. Whilst the Egyptians die around them, the Israelites are protected. This was not a permanent thing, though. This was only one night, and they were saved through the drawing of innocent blood. In order to save everyone permanently from death, the most innocent and the most pure blood of all will have to be spilt.

The Easter Story: The King is Coming

There was a tangible excitement building in Jerusalem. It was six days before passover; many people had already arrived for the festival. Jerusalem was busy with noise and bodies. Crowds passed through the gates of the walled city. The Roman soldiers were anxious; there were so many people and such an atmosphere. If there was time for a rebellion, an uprising, it would be now.

There was a sudden burst of action and noise. The crowd heard that a prophet was coming. He was coming, riding on a donkey -a colt- of things! Did this mean that the king promised in the scriptures was coming?

The people went out to meet him. As they went, the snapped branches off palm leaves and tore down branches from the fields and laid them on the road. They spread out their cloaks along the dusty earth. Some took their branches and waved them. The man was coming. Yes, he was on a donkey. The rumours had been true.

The people began to shout.
"Hosanna," they cried out. "to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

The whole of Jerusalem could hear this. The people still in the city were wondering what was happening.

But, who was this man? Why had he come riding on a donkey.

"This is Jesus, the prophet."

The Easter Story: My son

THE JORDAN RIVER. FIRST CENTURY.

The palms trees and the shrubs lined the wide river that flowed through the rugged Judean countryside. At some places pools of water, shallow enough to stand in, were made along the banks. It was here that a crowd had gathered.

In the centre of the crowd was a man. He wore camel skin clothes and he lived in the wilderness. Despite his strange way of life, people came all around, from Jerusalem and the Judean hill lands to be baptised by him. They went into the water burdened with guilt and shame; they came out of the water cleansed and unburdened. The man that baptised them was called John.

John was preaching a powerful and unrestrained message. Those who relied on their heritage and ancestry were fools. For pedigree did not matter to God; it was a life lived in the spirit of repentance that he was after. God would destroy those whose lives did not bear the marks of a holy life. They could not think that just because they were important that they could get away with living how they wished.

John also told the crowds how someone greater than himself was coming. This person would impart the power of the Holy Spirit, and with this would bring judgement. John knew that this person would be pure and sinless. He would have no need of the baptism that John offered.

Jesus, from Galilee, came to John and asked to be baptised. John was confused and said that it should be Jesus baptising him, not the other way round. But Jesus insisted.

John and Jesus went together into the water. Jesus was lowered into the river, and then rose above the surface. When this happened, it appeared as if the very sky had burst open. Something that resembled a dove, although it was not a dove, came down and rested upon Jesus. Then I voice said, "This is my son, whom I love. With him, I am well pleased."

(Matthew 3)

Commentary
Various things are made clear from this passage. First, Jesus' identity as the Son of God is revealed. Of course, John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, already had some knowledge of his identity. Second, God clearly loves Jesus and delights in him doing things that please him. God's love of his son mirrors and outstrips that of Abraham's love for Isaac. The love held by an earthly father can never rival that of the heavenly Father. This perhaps makes the knowledge of Jesus' impending death all the more harrowing.

Another interesting thing about this passage is the judgement that Jesus is to bring. From the very outset of his ministry, the condemnation was not held by who we perhaps have come to believe as the 'usual suspects': prostitutes, homosexuals, murderers, religious heretics. It was the religious elite that receive the most scorn. They believed it was their identity and worth that made them important. Of course, it is not. The importance of a human being is in relation of the God that made them. In someways this should be exceptionally humbling. There is no way we can compare to the God of the universe. But it should also be reassuring. As we are told in John 3:14: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son". Our worth is not what we can offer to him, but in the lavish gifts that he has given us.

The Easter Story: To sacrifice a son

FOUR THOUSAND YEARS AGO. MORIAH, ISRAEL.

They had been travelling for days. Now, on the top of this mountain, they had built an altar. On top of the altar was wood, ready to be burnt.

It was just the two of them: an elderly father and a young son. They had left the servants and the donkeys some way back and had walked the rest of the way together. They had carried the wood and they had built the altar together. Now it was time to sacrifice the burnt offering.

Isaac, the son, had thought it strange that they had not bought a sheep for the offering with them. When he asked, his father Abraham replied, "The Lord will provide."

Isaac saw his father's faith. Abraham was certain that the Lord would meet his needs. Hadn't the Lord always fulfilled his promises? Indeed, Isaac was born as the Lord said he would be, even though both his mother and father were late in their years. Abraham had no reason to doubt the Lord and that he would provided. Isaac looked around in order to see the sheep the Lord had provided for them. But, he could not find one.

Then his father did something very strange. Abraham bound Isaac's hands and feet and lifted his son onto the altar. For Abraham knew what the Lord had asked of him. Before they had set out, the Lord had asked Abraham to do the impossible.

Abraham loved his son very much. The Lord knew this. Isaac, after all, was the son God had given him. And yet, the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on an altar. Abraham was obedient and did as the Lord had asked. The Lord was always faithful; surely he would be faithful now. The Lord had given him Isaac; he would provide once again.

And so, Abraham was ready to kill his son on an altar atop a mountain. He took his knife, ready to bring down a fatal blow to his only boy.

"Abraham!" a voice cried. "Abraham! Do not lay a hand on your son. Do not hurt him in any way."

Abraham looked up and saw a ram with his horns caught in a thicket. The Lord, indeed, provides.

(Genesis 22)

Commentary
This is one of the Bible passages that people often have difficulties in understanding. Abraham is heralded as a great ancestor, yet was depraved enough to kill his only son. And what is to be said of the God that asked Abraham to do this?

Abraham trusted in the Lord to provide for him. He had enough faith to believe that whatever the outcome of this event, God would not rescind his promises to him. Isaac was given to him by the Lord and Abraham was confident of this. Hebrews 11:19 tells us that if Isaac did die, Abraham believed God would bring him back to life.

This story does not only provide reassurance of God's enduring faithfulness, but also provides interesting parallels with events yet to come. There is a father willing to sacrifice a son: a son that is innocent. There is also a substitute sacrifice; the ram takes the place of Isaac and dies in his place. There is also the son that is brought from death.

However, there are many ways where this story is different from the one it foretells. There is no cruel death and there is no separation from father and child. There is no scorn, false accusations, or torture. The story of Abraham and Isaac is light compared to the other.

And yet, in both, we see the love and faithfulness of God the Father.

The Easter Story: An ancient promise

THREE AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS AGO. ON THE PLAINS OF MOAB.

The people of Israel had wandered for forty long years. They were now gathered on a high plateau, where the wind, unhindered due to the lack of trees, blew through the grass and grain. All these years of waiting had led to this moment: to the fulfilment of the great promise to their forefather, Abraham. They were to go into the land that was promised to them.

Their leader, now advanced in years, would never enter this land. He was to die here in Moab. He would walk to Mount Nebo, a long ridge that cut across the plains, look out on the land that God had promised to his people and die. That would have to wait; he still had one last job as the leader of Israel. He turned and addressed them. A hush fell over the crowd. The old man said, 'See, I have given you this land. Go and take possession of the land the Lord has sworn to your fathers - to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - and to their descendants.'

They all knew the promise that the Lord had given Abraham. The Lord had promised him this land, but that was not all. Abraham, those many years ago, was old and with no children. The Lord, however, promised that his children would be a great nation and that all the people on earth would be blessed through Abraham. All the people of earth were to be blessed, the Lord had promised.

The leader of Israel continued. He reminded the people of Israel of the Lord's faithfulness. The Lord had promised; the Lord had delivered. He reminded them how they had lost patience and had turned from the Lord many times. The leader, too, had failed to stay faithful and this is why he was not to enter the promised land. He spoke of how God's people were to live. Then he said, 'The Lord said to me, "I will raise up a prophet like you from their fellow Israelites. I will put words in his mouth and he will tell everything I have commanded him."'

(Deuteronomy 34)

Commentary
You have to commend the Israelites on their patience. Abraham was promised land and descendants by God. Between that time, they have roamed the Middle East, fled famine, settled in Egypt for six hundred years, then wandered a desert for forty years. They finally made it. They were entering the land that God had promised their ancestors. But this moment has much deeper and longer lasting significance. It does not, it appears, end here.

First, the promise given to Abraham was that all the people of earth were to be blessed through Abraham and his descendants. This moment went the Israelites were to walk from the plains of Moab to claim their inheritance would not be the complete fulfilment of that promise. It was unlikely that impact of their settlement would be so far reaching. This is only one piece of the puzzle. So, the story has not finished (which is good, as there are another sixty-two books of the Bible to go).

Furthermore, the scope of God's promise is baffling. Often we see the Old Testament as God and His people, the Israelites. Apart from invasions, wars and the odd character (like Ruth the Moabitess), it seems that God is primarily interested in the descendants of Abraham. But, right back at the start of this relationship, God is looking at all the people of earth. He wants them, He cares for them, He is going to bless them. He is interested in every nation, not just those of certain descent. Which is very fortunate for us, otherwise we probably would not be celebrating Easter right now.

Before Moses died, he spoke another promise from the Lord. He spoke of one to come. This idea crops up again and again: that someone is coming and they are of great significance. It began in Genesis 3, we see it when Jacob blesses his sons, we see it here and we will see it again. So, the Israelites' waiting has not ended just yet.

The Easter Story: Healing in His Wings

FIRST CENTURY CAPERNAUM, THE MIDDLE EAST.

There was a woman who suffered from a shameful and humiliating condition. For twelve years she had endured it. For twelve years she was considered unclean by her people: she could not enter the temple, she remained untouched by a man.

In her desperation, she had spent all her wealth on the advice of doctors. Instead of getting better, she became worse.

She was sick; she was broken.

There was a man she had heard of. He was able to do great things - he could heal the sick. Perhaps he was was the one the prophet spoke of those many years ago: "The Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings."

If she could find him, she thought, she might get better. All she had to do was touch him: just the edge of his cloak. If he did have healing in his wings then just a hem would do - they were the same word in her language after all.

One day, a huge crowd moved through the town. In the centre of it was the man she wanted to find: Jesus. She pushed through the throng of people. She could see him. She was close. She reached a hand out. Then she felt the fabric of his cloak brush against her fingers.

Her bleeding stopped. She had been healed.

The Son of Righteousness has healing in his wings.

(Mark 5:22-34; Malachi 4:2)

Commentary
As we ascertained last week, sinfulness had led to sickness and brokenness. The world was in need of someone that had the power to heal and restore. The world needed someone that could enter into the lives of ordinary people and treat their disease and piece their shattered lives together.

Jesus did this. Not only did he cure this woman of her bleeding, but he gave the blind sight, the lame the power to walk, the dead life. 

I love this episode, because of the simplicity of it hides the deeply nuanced interaction that is going on here. There is a woman, who is ceremonially unclean. She had been constantly discharging blood, something that was considered contaminating and defiling. She would not be able to enter into the temple and she would have been a social outcast. People would not even be able to sit in a chair she had sat upon. She reached out to Jesus, knowing that doing so put him in contact with something that was unclean.

And yet she did this. She must have been so desperate. Perhaps she was clinging on the words of the ancient prophecy that the Son of Righteousness has healing in his wings. It is possible that this instance of wordplay (hem and wings are the same in Hebrew) had given her hope. Indeed, it is not the first time that instance of that particular wordplay had been seen in the Bible. When Ruth asks Boaz to place the edge of his cloak over her, she is reminding him of his words that she would find shelter under God's wings.

Whatever her reason or her thinking, she sought Jesus for healing. And there she found it. Jesus was not defiled by her, but instead she was cleansed by him. It is a deep and holy purity that instead of being tarnished by the unclean, it purifies it. 

So it is the pure, nontarnishable healing of the Son of Righteousness that is needed to restore the world. 

The Easter Story: The Beginnings

JUST AFTER THE BEGINNING.

The earth is sick. The soil has grown dry and unyielding. The plants were now covered in thorns and weeds littered the ground. The earth is sick; the earth is broken.

This was not how it had begun. The trees had once been pregnant with fruit- their boughs sagging under the weight of the crop. The corn heads were full, shimmering gold beneath the sun. The soil was rich and fertile. But this was now in the past. This was before they took the fruit.

In the Garden there was a tree and that tree was able to give those who ate of it the knowledge of good and the knowledge of evil. Before this knowledge, there is just innocence. To know of good or evil - to see something and judge its goodness, its purity; or its cruelty, its malice - is the loss of innocence. With innocence is life and freedom. After innocence is guilt and shame and damnation. With damnation comes a curse.

To know goodness is to know evil. To know evil is to know death. This is the curse.

The earth was innocent once. Now it is sick; now it is broken.

The serpent had told them that to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not bad.
"For surely you will not die," the serpent whispered. And so they ate. They knew of good and they knew of evil. Their innocence had been lost. With their new understanding they knew of their nakedness. Guilt, shame, damnation. Death, sickness, pain, despair. These entered into the world.

God cast mankind from the Garden. The soil was now to be hard and unyielding. Man had to sweat to make the soil produce anything. And they would die. From dust they came; dust they will become.

Had the serpent won? Men were cast out. The earth was sick. What God had called good had been spoiled.

Who will bring healing to this sickness? Who will restore this brokenness?

"I will put enmity between you and the woman," the Lord God said to the snake. "Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite their heel."

And so began the Easter Story.

(Genesis 3)

Commentary
The text of Genesis 3:15 is often seen as the first declaration of God's intentions to see his son die by the crucifix. This, of course, is often disputed, but there are various reasons why I believe this to be the case. It offers many insights into the newly broken world that was the result of the Fall and also of God's plan to restore his broken world. There are to be two inhabitants of this world, the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the woman: the sinners who are at enmity with the Redeemer and his redeemed.

The woman's offspring will go into battle with the serpent. Her offspring will suffer when the serpent bites his heel. But, in the end the serpent is defeated and the woman's offspring is victorious.

Therefore, from the very outset of humanity, from the moment sin and rebellion entered the world, the redemption and victory of Jesus was promised.

Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday begins the period of Lent, a time of fasting and contemplation. The ash is sprinkled or marked on the heads of believers, with the words from Genesis 3:19 reminding them that they will too become dust. These acts are to remind believers of their inherent sinful nature, as they too are marked by the sickness and brokenness that is in the world. 

Announcement: The Easter Story

It's nearly pancake day! That means that lent is soon upon us. For most people, Lent is a time when you pick something to give up (wine, chocolate, Facebook, etc.) and then struggle for forty days, with the momentary slip that fills you with a sense of guilt and failure. I'm pretty sure that is the point of Easter, isn't it? No.

This year, I want Lent to be a reflection on what Easter is actually about. For the last two years or so, I've been preparing a series to run through the period of Lent and Easter. It's taken so long because it's needed a lot of research and I've been playing around with the format. I've also been trying to work out what needs to be included and what I can miss out.

This is not the usual presentation of Easter. I don't start with Palm Sunday, then work my way through the Passion Week. (Oh, how clichéd!) Instead, I start with the Garden of Eden and go from there. I may have shot myself in the foot with that, as it's quite a large remit. (What are you writing about? Oh, not much. Just the history of humanity from it's start to the what is, in my view, the most important event in human history.) But that's why I wanted to do this. The crucifixion is such a massive event. It's a word that's so much bigger than the eleven letters that make it. I wanted to somehow show a glimpse of the enormity of what happened.

Choosing which episodes I wanted to write about was actually relatively simple. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of moments in the Bible that capture a part of why the cross was necessary. However, there are some where it seemed so evident they just fit perfectly into what I wanted to do. Then, I had to decide whether to go on chronologically or thematically. I chose the latter, so the story is told in various episodes that flit through different parts of the Bible. We have stories from Genesis, Deuteronomy, and of course, the Gospels. They are all, hopefully, threaded together to show what a beautiful, tragic and amazing event the crucifixion really was.

I also had to think about how I was going to present it. I love telling stories, so at first I was going to go for just that route. I have retold the events of the Bible in my own words, in order to highlight some of the themes and ideas expressed in the passage. I also wanted to allow readers to see a glimpse of what seventh century BC Jerusalem may have been like, or what it was to stand on the Plains of Moab thousands of years ago. I was a little worried, because I don't believe the Bible does need retelling. It cannot be improved by the likes of me. The Bible is such a beautiful book, I simply wanted to grab some of those moments or phrases and show them to everyone. But, I was happy enough with the outcome. I tried to be as accurate as possible, using other sources or reading around the Bible to find clues as to what it might be like.

But still, this what not enough. The scripture is so full of resonating words and ideas, I could not leave them alone. Perhaps it was because my writing wasn't up to the task of showcasing the delight and wonder that could be found in the smallest verse. I felt the need to say, "This is why this is important. See how marvellous it is!" So, some of the stories come with a commentary.

There are a dozen or so stories that are going to be published every Wednesday from Ash Wednesday. There'll be an extra one on Palm Sunday, then, once we hit April, it gets a bit more crazy. There is one every day until we reach Easter Monday.

Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.