April Letter...
Vicar's Letter - April
Dear friends,
‘Alleluia! The Lord is risen!’
Such wonderful words to hear again as we celebrate Easter this month.
A question I have been asked a few times about the resurrection of Jesus is, ‘How do you know it’s true?’
It is a good question to ask!
I believe it’s true for several reasons. First of all, because his tomb was empty on Easter Sunday morning. That is fact. Neither his followers, nor his opponents, knew where his body was. If either group had moved his dead body, you’d have thought that the truth would have come out sooner or later! Matthew’s Gospel [27: 62-66] actually considers this thought. We know that the tomb was sealed, and there were guards posted to keep watch. It didn’t make any difference. The stone was rolled away. The Lord arose.
Next, we have the evidence of appearances of the risen Jesus. He appeared to the Marys who ran to tell his disciples. His disciples also saw Jesus alive. Sometimes the appearance involved one or two of them, sometimes it was a larger group. Note that the first few appearances happened independently of each other. Even with all the evidence available, some of the disciples doubted. Luke [24:36-39] tells us, ‘Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’. They were startled and frightened, thinking they had seen a ghost. I can understand that! But Jesus continued, ‘Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself. touch me! A ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have!’
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