An Easter message from Revd Marion Williams (Rector), Cranham All Saints Church

This event serves as the cornerstone of our belief and holds great significance in our daily lives as Christians.

As I write this, we have started the final week to Easter: we are in Holy Week.

Palm Sunday and Holy Week are central parts of the Christian calendar that lead up to Easter, helping believers reflect deeply on the final days of Jesus Christ’s life on earth. Many Christians have worked towards this point through the season of Lent, this lasts 40 days and is marked by prayer, fasting, and repentance.

This preparation helps believers focus on their relationship with God and the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday, when Christians remember Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he arrived on a donkey, a colt, as it was prophesied in the Old Testament of the Bible. People greeted Jesus in celebration, waving Palm branches and laying their cloaks on the ground. The people were shouting praises like “Hosanna.” The people thought Jesus was coming to rescue them from the Roman oppression. 

However, to Christians, this moment is significant because it shows Jesus being recognised as a king. A humble and peaceful king, not a political or military ruler and his entry on a donkey symbolises humility and peace. Palm Sunday also carries a note of contrast and foreshadowing.

The same crowds that praised Jesus would, only days later, call for his crucifixion.

The Gospels, (in the New Testament of the Bible) as the week moved on, tell that Jesus cause much concern to the temple Authorities and to Pilate as he challenged their authority.

He turned over tables of merchants, selling in the Temple declaring they were making the Temple a den of thieves 

We now move towards Maundy Thursday another significant event in the Christian faith, it was the Jewish festival of Passover and on the Thursday, we remember Jesus sitting with his disciples, his followers, to share in the Passover.

During this time Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, teaching them and us humility and service.

During this simple meal, he broke bread and shared wine with his friends, telling them this would be the last time they would be together like this, he told them that one who sits at the table would betray him to the authorities. He also told them to do this act to remember him.

The Church still does this, it’s an important part during services called by many names, the Last Supper, the Eucharist, Holy Communion or Mass. Churches still do this in remembrance of Jesus. 

Following this last supper, Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples Judas and was tried by the temple authorities and by Pilate. He was condemned to die on a cross on the day we know as Good Friday

Good Friday is a solemn day that commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Christians reflect on the suffering Jesus endured and believe his death was a sacrifice for the sins of humanity. 

This we believe is why Jesus was sent to us as a baby at that time we know as Christmas, he became fully human, fully God, and grew and walked with us, when he was about 30 he began teaching and preaching until the time of his Passion 

Without Christmas, there would be no incarnation, no Jesus living among people. But without Easter, Jesus’ birth would not carry the same saving meaning. Christians believe he was born to save us, to die and rise again for our Salvation

Christmas shows God coming to us.

Easter shows why he came.

“Good” Friday points to the belief that something profoundly good came from this act of death on the cross—redemption forgiveness and eternal life for all who believe. 

After Jesus died, he was taken down from the cross and his friends prepared his body for burial and laid in a tomb 

Holy Saturday: A quieter, more reflective day marking the time Jesus lay in the tomb. It represents waiting, grief, and anticipation before the joy of resurrection.

As the disciples grieved, they forgot his words and his teachings that he would return. After Passover, the third morning (the day we know as Easter Day) his grieving friend went to the tomb, and bible tells that the stone was rolled away and inside were Angels shining brightly, Jesus had risen from the dead. 

Easter Day a day of Joy. When Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead, demonstrating his divine nature and victory over sin and death. This resurrection is seen as proof that Jesus is the Son of God and that his teachings are true. 

A lot can happen in seven days, and everything can change. From praise to pain. From the cross to the empty tomb. 

What looked like the end became the beginning of everything,  the start of Christianity following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Easter is the most important and meaningful celebration in the Christian faith.

At its heart, it is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his rising from the dead three days after his crucifixion. The Baby born at Christmas becomes the man who died on the Cross and rose from the dead so that death does not have the last word.

Easter is a time to remember and commemorate the foundation of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

This event serves as the cornerstone of our belief and holds great significance in our daily lives as Christians.