Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

On the day we call Good Friday, Jesus Christ, against whom no fault could be found, for never in his life did he do anything wrong, was nailed to a wooden cross and left to die. But death didn’t claim Jesus; the Bible tells us that he gave up his spirit.

Neither did the grave hold its claim over the Son of God. That’s what Easter is all about. When his broken-hearted friends went to Jesus’ grave three days later, they were met by an angel who told them, ‘Don’t be alarmed … You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.’

Do you believe that? It was the last thing in the world the authorities of the day wanted to believe. To disprove the resurrection, they only needed to produce the dead body of Jesus. But they couldn’t do that because he wasn’t dead. The angel spoke the truth – Jesus Christ is alive!

Resurrection

bracken fires in April dryness

victim of sun and shard of glass

embers of hillside

acrid air

a death-long day’s work

charred branches

claw heaven

with their why

rain reduces the hillside to tears

that in their flowing

wash away streaks of ash

freeing a solitary shoot

of Easter green

Written for the Scottish Fellowship of Christian Writers and used by kind permission.