Easter (the death and resurrection of Christ) is one of 3 major festivals annually celebrated by the Christian church, along with Christmas (the birth of Christ) and Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit). The week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday is called Holy Week - many people will have fasted or given up something (such as chocolate) during the 40-day period of Lent.

Easter is a celebration of New Life occurring at a time when we see new growth on plants & trees, new born lambs in fields and spring flowers. The days are as long as the nights and brighter weather is on the way – the UK has basked in spring sunshine this year.

There is a deep meaning to this period of the year. The first Good Friday occurred on the same day as the Jewish Festival of Passover, Jesus died on the cross at the same time as the Passover lambs were sacrificed to allow the forgiveness of sins. Passover remembered the people of Israel being released from slavery & bondage into a new relationship with God – the cross of Christ does even more.

Why is this so significant for us? At the heart of the Good Friday – Easter Sunday story is the desire of God to have a relationship with us through Jesus Christ the Messiah.

We can view the Old Testament as preparation of the world for Jesus Christ and find laws and regulations for how people could approach a holy God. But Rom 5:6-8 tells us that God made preparation for a new way to enter a relationship with him: ’at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’.  Heb 10:19-23 adds: ’Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water’.

The curtain referred to above reflects the curtain of OT Temple protecting the entrance to the most Holy Place, no one was able to enter except the High Priest and then only once a year. For unlimited access to God to take place, a tearing was required. On that first Easter it was the way to God’s own heart being opened through the sacrifice of his Son on the cross for you & me. Jesus was ‘made sin for us’ 2 Cor 5:21: ’God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ so that we could be completetly free. A divine exchange took place. Long ago, our sins were poured into Jesus Christ as he hung on the cross, not held by Roman nails, but by his eternal love for you & me. The suffering of Jesus was so intense that the Father looked away: Jesus cried out ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matt 27:46). The result is that God exchanged our failings for his own perfect love, he takes our sins and we gain his perfection & holiness, all we need do is to believe.

When Jesus died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. The curtain was 60 feet high, 30 feet wide and four inches thick! Only God could have done this because the veil was too high for human hands to reach, and too thick to tear - as it was torn from top to bottom.

So if God loves you this much and longs for a relationship with you in this life that will last for eternity, are you ready to take a step of faith towards him through believing in the risen Messiah Jesus Christ? There is a prayer you can make your own on the ‘Know God’ tab at the top of the homepage under ‘how far away are you?’

God bless you,

Rob Pearson, Pastor