Easter Tuesday

Taking the image from the Turin Shroud – the cloth said to have covered Christ’s body in the tomb - computer artists have been busy for six months reconstructing an image of what they consider to be as close as possible to the real face of Jesus. . The results have been broadcast in a documentary on The History Channel in the US. The project's lead computer artist Ray Downing said: "If you want to recreate the face of Jesus, you have only one object and that's the Shroud. It is the only object that can purport to be the actual image of Jesus with any kind of credibility." The artists had to take into account the fact the cloth wrapped the body and the face rather than lay flat. “By imitating those distortions,’ he said ‘we could take the image and put it back into that shape and figure out what the face looked like.’ Two million people are expected to visit the Shroud when it goes on display at Turin Cathedral next month.

In the gospel reading today we have the familiar story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb failing to recognise Jesus. What was her problem? She was, after all, a close follower and friend, devoted and diligent in her discipleship. Maybe it was because it was very early in the morning while it was still dark. Perhaps it was because the tears were pouring from her eyes. Maybe it was because she was distraught, beside herself, an emotional wreck. Whatever the reason, Mary fails to recognise Jesus, even when he speaks to her. She mistakes him for the gardener. It is not until he speaks her name that she finally recognises him as her Risen Lord. There is, understandably, much confusion as the good news of Christ’s resurrection reaches the ears of his disciples. It takes time for the reality of his resurrection to sink in. This is unfamiliar territory for his friends and followers. Despite the number of occasions that Jesus had spoken to them about his dying and rising they still somewhat missed the point. It takes time for them to recognise him, takes time for everything to sink in.

The Resurrection of Christ is not so much like a light bulb that instantly fills a room with light. It is more akin, perhaps, to the rising of the sun, a gradual emergence in people’s lives as their lives are turned away from death to the new life of Christ, a gradual yet determined dispersion of darkness and despondency as Jesus fills their lives with light and life. For us, as for Mary, it does not matter what Jesus looks like. He is, after all, unrecognisable in so many different ways. Later in the day two disciples will walk to Emmaus with Jesus at their side and they too will not recognise him until they reach their journey’s end. Our Faith is not fixed by the physical and familiar. Our Faith is not simply a looking back to some historical figure, to some person from the past. Risen from the dead, Jesus goes beyond the physical. In fact, he tells Mary not to hold onto him. The Risen Lord transcends all boundaries, fills us within and without. Jesus’ resurrection is not a return to the old ways. He has gone beyond death, he has moved forward – and he invites us, and makes it possible for us, to move on to.

Easter Tuesday

A survey for the Mental Health Foundation has suggested that people are growing more and more anxious. A poll of 2,000 adults found 77% found the world more frightening than in 1999. The charity described a "culture of fear" in which the media and politicians fuelled a sense of unease. But one sociologist has said the campaign could become a "self-fulfilling prophecy" making people even more anxious. The report, In the Face of Fear, found more than a third of people say they get frightened or anxious more often than they used to. One of the reasons for the increased fear was the economic climate but the charity said it believed there were other factors at play. The report said "worst-case-scenario language" sometimes used by politicians, and others around issues such as knife-crime, MRSA, bird-flu and terrorism can also have a detrimental effect on people's wellbeing.

In the gospel, Mary Magadalene is faced with fear. The world is or must be a scary place for her. She has witnessed the most awful thing happening. Her hopes dashed, her heart broken, she stands at the place of death and weeps. She has every right to be scared it seems. And she too is guilty of using ‘worst case scenario language.’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she says, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ How on earth can things get better? All she has in the gardener to confide in. ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ he asks. ‘Who are you looking for?’ Maybe the gardener can help. ‘If you have taken him away,’ she replies, ‘please tell me where you have put him and I will go and remove him.’ And then one word from Jesus as he speaks her name. Then, and only then, does her fear fall away. Then and only then does her anxiety subside. Then and only then does she recognise Jesus.

We do live in a world in which there appears to be so much to be fearful about. Society changes, as it always changes, and very rarely do we think it changes for the better. We worry about so many things. We get anxious about so many factors. We know, from experience, that being a Christian, believing in Jesus, following Jesus, does not mean an easy life, a comfortable life, or a life that is cushioned from the tragedies and turmoil that come our way. Sometimes, in the midst of our fear, when we are close to tears or standing at the place of death, it may be difficult to see Jesus in the mess that we have found ourselves. But he is there, calling our name. His words lift us from the depths of despair and we, like Mary, are messengers, telling others what we have seen and heard.

Readings: Acts 2:36-41; John 20:11-18

Easter Monday

So there’s a bit of bother at Downing Street. David Cameron wants an apology from the Prime Minister concerning the recent e-mail slurs that an adviser, David McBride, had sent, back in January. He quit his job after his unfounded claims about Mr Cameron and shadow Chancellor George Osborne became public knowledge. Mr Cameron is said to be ‘absolutely furious’ about what he claims are blatant lies made about the Tory Party. The Tory Party want an investigation and a guarantee that such material will never be written again from Downing Street. Lies, slurs, dirty tricks, dirty words, stories and tales. Another day in politics!

The gospel reading today is filled with a slur too. The news that the tomb of Jesus is empty and the claims that he has risen from the dead provoke the chief priests and elders to begin their own slur campaign, and the news soon goes around that the disciples of Jesus have stolen the body. There are bribes involved, and a considerable amount of money crosses hands. Not so much Cash for Questions or Cash for Honours but Cash for Lies. This is the beginning of conspiracy. For there have always been people who deny what we believe about Jesus, and there have always been people who, beginning from the very day of resurrection, have denied the resurrection of Christ from the dead. After all, it is a bold claim, a courageous claim, a dangerous claim. Yet is a claim that we continue to make. It is the central tenet to our faith. Without the Resurrection, our Faith would be very different indeed.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after that Day of Resurrection, Peter speaks boldly in the streets of Jerusalem. ‘God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that,’ he says. He and the others disciples have been transformed from a timid, hopeless, broken hearted group of individuals who hide themselves in fear – to bold, hopeful, courageous people, filled with the Spirit of God, who cannot hold themselves back in sharing the message of Christ raised from the dead. And so we must move on too. For our lives are changed now. There is no looking back. As the apostles move on to Galilee, where Jesus will meet them, we too must move on, for the Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Readings: Acts 2:14. 22 -33; Matthew 28:8-15

Wednesday in Holy Week

Do you have trouble with sprouts? Are you averse to cabbage or swede or tinned tomatoes or sweetcorn? Do you remember pushing the plate away as a child or refusing to eat your greens? A new survey has revealed that the memories of our childhood eating habits have a huge impact on our tastes in later life. Almost half of the people questioned in the survey admitted not trying the food in adult life that gave them their earliest ‘bad flavour’ memory. A Smell expert from Cardiff University said that flavour was actually a mixture of two senses - taste and smell - and in many people these were inherently conservative. "We spend our formative years being fed with things that are sweet and quite bland,’ he said. ‘Once we have established what foods we need to survive, why change it? We often don't want to take that risk.’ In other words, why be left with a bad taste in our mouth?

The meal in tonight’s gospel reading is, of course, a well known one. The room has been carefully chosen, the table prepared, and the food determined by Jewish ritual. Imagine the tastes and the smells. Imagine the scene. That carefully chosen upstairs room is the place that Jesus shares the Passover with his disciples. And in the midst of this traditional fare, this important celebration, this cultural ritual of the Jewish people, Jesus gives it a new meaning. He takes bread, he takes wine and offers the food to his disciples as his body and blood. The food he gives is the gift of himself and an eloquent image of his self giving love. What better food could we wish for?

Yet this meal will leave a bad taste in the mouth. Already Judas Iscariot has been planning the betrayal of Jesus. And whilst they are eating, Jesus tells them so…but only in a manner of speaking. In saying that one of them will betray him, the disciples reveal their own insecurities, their own self-doubt. They shock themselves into thinking that they could be the one to let Jesus down, to hand Jesus over, the one for whom it would be better that he had never been born. ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’ Are they…is any one of them…capable of betraying Jesus? And so their distress fills the air. There is a bad taste in their mouth. Jesus says that someone who has dipped his hand in the same dish, someone who has sat at the same table, someone who has enjoyed the same meal with him, will slip out into darkness. ‘Better that he had never been born.’ How final, how severe, how awful.

Yet, this is the meal to which they will return again and again. This is the meal that we share so often: for Jesus has ordered it to be so. Their memories of Jesus betrayal, suffering and death will always be associated with this meal, they will never shake that memory, the taste of death, the smell of betrayal. But it will also be the meal that will assure them of his risen presence. And so we, when we break bread and drink the cup, call to mind the Lord’s death. It is bitter sweet. For although it comes through pain and suffering, it comes with the reward of Christ’s risen life.

I hope you enjoy your food.

Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9; Matthew 26:14-25