A special Easter message from St Mark’s
Rev Barry Hughes, Minister at St Mark’s church, Raploch
In 2010 a strange event happened; a volcano in Iceland erupted and threw so much ash into the air that all flights in the Northern Hemisphere were grounded for a week or so.
You may well remember it. It seemed at the time like a huge event – though it pales into insignificance compared to what we are going through now. I remember it well; I was in London and when my flight home was cancelled I had to squeeze onto a train back to Scotland with hundreds of others.
On that train I met someone, an elderly lady who told her fellow passengers that she had an unusual occupation; she was, and still is, a professional lookalike for the Queen. And the resemblance was astonishing – she has played the Queen on TV and films and when we met her she was on her way to a‘personal appearance’, complete with crown. We had to do a double take to be sure she wasn’t the real thing.
Today Christians around the world mark Good Friday – the day when Jesus’week in Jerusalem comes to its inevitable climax with His trial, torture and death on the cross. The week started with the whole city proclaiming him‘King of the Jews’, waving palm branches. It was easy to follow him then. By Friday he didn’t have many friends left – even his disciples deserted him, afraid of being arrested themselves. And the question Jesus was asked at his‘trial’is the most relevant one for us all this Good Friday:“Who are you? Are you the King of the Jews?”
First the temple leaders, and then Pontius Pilate, both asked Jesus this question; are you the real King, the real Messiah, or an imposter?
Ultimately, they had already made their mind up; this man Jesus, whoever he was, had to die. And so he did, on this day, Good Friday, almost 2000 years ago.
Was Jesus the real deal – or was
He, like the lady I met on the train 10 years ago, just pretending? The answer to this question is as important to us now as it was then. Christians believe the answer is to be found on the third day, Easter Sunday, when he rose from the dead, and the world was never the same again.
This Easter we will reflect on many things – the way our world has temporarily changed, the way we are missing family and friends. And let us also reflect on this; this man Jesus Christ, who died on this Good Friday, went on to rise again and to change the world. He was, is, and always will be, the real deal – the real King.