Happy Easter!

Dear Friends,
Happy Holy Week to you!

I was born on Good Friday, April 15th…many years ago! This year is the first occasion since then that I am celebrating my birthday on Good Friday!

On the evening of such a poignant and special day to be born on, here are a few thoughts about these next few days. 

I loved what Pastor Robert Ferguson wrote recently about the Last Supper:
'Jesus gave His disciples a cup saying, “…This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you…” (Luke 22:20).

The cup was the fulfillment of an ancient promise – it contained an offer of forgiveness and divine fellowship which was beyond their imagination. But what would this offer cost?

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus drank from another cup. He prayed, “…Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done...” (Luke 22:42).’

A good question to ask is what poison was in that cup that caused Him so much anguish?

The cup was the manifestation of an ancient symbol of divine wrath – and its contents represented the sins of the world and the judgement they deserved. No wonder the sinless Jesus was deeply distressed as He faced it.

If you think the price was too great, as Anselm said, “…you have not yet considered the gravity of sin…”

This Easter, let’s remember those two extreme cups. It's only as we consider the cost of one, that we begin to understand the grace of the other.

In one we will find our rebellion – in the other our redemption.

In one we will find our judgment – in the other our justification.

Jesus drank from the one - so that we could drink from the other.

As Canon J.John once said, "We are most definitely Easter people living in a Good Friday world."

Blessings on your Easter Weekend, 
Derek+