Easter Reflections - Pastor Ian Harding

One week. It doesn’t sound very long but as we prepare for Easter, I’ve been struck by how profoundly life-changing one week can be. 

Holy Week is full of rich symbolism and significant moments. There’s Jesus’ triumphal entry. Judas’ decision to betray Jesus. Jesus’ prayers in the Garden of Gethsemene. The Cross. Silent Saturday. And of course that first Sunday where Jesus reveals himself as the only one who has conquered death.

But what particularly caught my attention as I’ve been reflecting on these events, is The Last Supper. This meal was the kind of meal the disciples would have often shared with their master. I wonder if, as they shared the meal together, they laughed, sharing stories of some of the miracles they’d seen and I wonder too if there was a slight ill-ease which no one wanted to linger on. After all as they knew – because Jesus had said it – that Jesus was going to die. Was that right? How? Yet in this moment Jesus initiates something that has become a powerful shared moment for Christians all over the world. Mark’s account captures it well. 

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

Mark 14:22-23 NLT

Here Jesus breaks bread and shares wine with his closest friends. But he’s doing more. He’s announcing a new kingdom and a new way of living. 

In the breaking the bread, Jesus is announcing how he will join humanity by being broken on their behalf and in doing so making it possible for us to bring our brokenness to him so we may be healed. 

In the drinking of the wine, Jesus is announcing an end to the rule and reign of sin over our lives. We are no longer slaves; we are free. Our lives can become about learning to walk in the fullness of the freedom he has won for us.

And that’s why we remember. I love that as we share this meal as Christians, we remember there is no brokenness Jesus has not felt and there is no slavery Jesus has not freed us from. This is who we are.

So this Easter, let’s reflect on what Christ has won for us and that He is IN us.