General Chat

This is an article I read some years ago but I cannot remember where. Anyway, it meant a lot to me - so, I copied & pasted it on 'Word' for future reference. Seems appropriate for me to re-post it here today. See what you think.
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Death of an innocent.

After a night in a filthy dungeon, the prisoner was bound & led away to the governor for sentence. Tired & exhausted, the prisoner was made to stand as he was questioned.

The judge, despite recognising his innocence, nevertheless released a well known terrorist in order to please the mob who demanded the detainee’s execution.

The victim was taken, tied to a post with his wrists high over his head. A leather whip lacerated the taut skin on his back till the flesh was torn and the bones & organs were exposed. The ‘convict’ was then stripped, clothed in kingly robes, crowned with twisted thorns wedged onto his head & then mocked. Then he was led away carrying a rugged Roman cross.

Weakened after the beating & stumbling under the sheer weight, nobody offered to help him. Not one blind person whom he had healed previously, not one cured leper, nor a lame person who had been given the strength to walk, helped. Not even someone from the miraculously fed crowd came forward.

A foreigner was eventually compelled to take the beams as the prisoner was led to the ‘Place of Skull’. There, soldiers hammered thick nails into his hands & his feet - the cross was then lifted, suspending him between Heaven & earth, with a cursing criminal on each side.

Jesus was crucified. His only covering was blood, spittle & dust. Even the religious & political leaders howled abuse at him. Outstretched & in excruciating pain, God laid the sin of the world on Jesus. The ugliness of the scene could not portray what Jesus, the perfect Son of God, endured as he paid the punishment for the wrong doing of men & women. There is a sense in which each one of us was there when they crucified Jesus, because it was our sin that Christ was bearing on his own body on that tree.

Next day, the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross. It had been wrapped in clean linen cloth & was laid in a new tomb hewn out of rock. A stone sealed the entrance & a guard of soldiers made sure his body could not be tampered with or stolen. Jesus’ body lay cold & still in the grave.

Jesus’ disciples were distraught. They had been with Christ for three years & had seen an absolutely perfect life. He never apologised or needed to. He was God manifest in the flesh. The disciples still had not grasped God’s master plan to bring men & women to know him.

All our wrong, which God calls ‘sin’, has cut us off from him. This can only lead us to hell. But, God sent Christ to be the Saviour of the world. Jesus loved us so much that he went through the agonising suffering of the cross, making a way to bring people back to himself.

Early on the following morning, two women went to the tomb. They were presented with the astounding news that Jesus’ body was not there. Jesus had done what no ordinary human being could do - Jesus had risen from the dead. God was showing the world that he had accepted Jesus as the substitute & sacrifice for sin & could give forgiveness & new life to all who will turn from sin & trust him.

Over the following few weeks, Jesus was to show himself risen & alive to many different types of people in various settings. More than 500 people saw Jesus alive after his death.

Today, Christ is in his honoured place in Heaven. Anybody who in their fear will come to him, to receive pardon for the past & a new life for the future will find him to be a friend who never leaves or forsakes them.

He died for you & me. He will receive you as his own if you will trust him now. You can know God in life, through death & for eternity if you will repent & by faith believe the good news. Ask him now to become your Lord & Saviour forever.

Happy Easter.

I knew very little about Maundy Thursday myself till Joy posted and Cynthia reponded. I knew the Queen gave these coins, but had never understood the significance. And Francis washing the feet of the prisoners near Rome is truly inspiring.

Today marks the blackest of days in the Christian calendar.

So many thoughts run through my mind.

1. The earliest of hymnwriters - the Independent Minister from Hampshire Isaac Watts (1674-1748) - wrote "When I survey the wondrous cross". They did survey it then - really meditated on the significance for mankind and for them personally.
2. Caiphas and Annas (Chief Priest of the Jews and his son in law) could have had Jesus put to death. But not by crucifixion, which was a Roman punishment and could only be delivered by Pontius Pilate.
3. They must have known the Old Testament predictions that the Jewish Messiah will be "crucified" and "lifted high when he dies". None of their punishments (stoning, for example) would have fulfilled their scriptures!!
4. They refused to enter Pilate's praetorium as they were in the midst of passover celebrations and would have been defiled by a gentile.
5. They woke Pilate early that Friday. 5am, maybe even earlier. And had arranged a mob of supporters at that unearthly hour.
6. Were crucified felons part of the annual sport every Friday of the Passover festivals in Jerusalem? Was it part of that sport that one of the felons was always granted their freedom that day? Or was Barabbas a "one off"?

Good Friday has always been the most challenging day of the Christian Year for me. God Friday to be accurate, God dead for 3 days. And Sunday is such a blessed relief - like a ton of bricks lifted and we can once again see hope, new life. And, most important of all, death had been conquered in accordance with Old Testament and in accordance with the preaching of Jesus. And guess who realised first why the tomb was bare? Not John, not Peter, not the Virgin Mary. No, Mary Magdalene, the simplest and most sinful of Christ's followers :-) :-)

I have been to a Maundy Thursday service in our cathedral Joy - it was about 7 years ago.

It was a wonderful experience. I have been in the cathedral hundreds of times but, I have to admit, I have never felt such an atmosphere before. Despite there being 2000 people present, you could have heard a pin drop.


The sound of the Beefeaters coming down the main aisle , knocking their staves on the floor, sent absolutely shivers through you and, when the tiny Queen emerged through the great west doors the whole place was filled with the most immense atmosphere. It was just incredible.


Tonight I went to our own Maundy Thursday service. No great crowds like the cathedral, but a very moving service all the same.

At the end of the service, the altar is stripped of all it's 'trappings'. The cross, candlesticks, silver and linen are removed and we are left with just the bare wood.

The clergyman who celebrated the communion, removed his chasuble and the choir removed their white surplices, leaving them in their dark cassocks. We stood and stared at the unadorned chancel as the story of Maundy Thursday was read to us.

When the service ended, the choir and clergy filed silently out and people left quietly, their heads filled with what they had just heard and witnessed.


Tomorrow, we will gather at 2pm to remember the Crucifixion.

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/easter/maundythursday.htm
Maundy Thursday


http://christianity.about.com/od/easter/qt/maundythursday.htm
Derived from the Latin word mandatum, meaning "commandment," Maundy refers to the commands Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper: to love with humility by serving one another and to remember his sacrifice.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-21969710
The Queen has presented coins to elderly people who have worked hard for their community at the Royal Maundy Service held in Oxford.

She was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh in Christ Church cathedral to distribute the coins in a tradition which dates back hundreds of years.

Eighty seven men and 87 women, to mark the Queen's 87th year, were given two purses of money, one red and one white.

The red purse contained a £5 coin and a 50p coin commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation in 1953.

The white purse held the famous Maundy money, silver one, two, three and four penny pieces equal to 87 pence.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21963105
Pope Francis has washed the feet of prisoners in a youth detention centre near Rome as part of the Maundy Thursday service.

The Christian ritual takes place on the Thursday before Easter to commemorate Christ's Last Supper.

Thankyou Errol. I have googled Ghislaine Howard's exhibition 'Stations of the Cross' and Lichfield Cathredral. Unlike JLC, I have to admit I knew nothing of the cathedral and was fascinated to read about this beautiful gothic building with three spires.

How fortunate you are to be close enough to visit - I feel quite envious :-)

I don't know about that but I do know what I like and find inspiring

Obviously a man of taste :-D

Cynthia in my opinion it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the British Isles - I love it there and Chester cathedral

Thank you Emma, it's nice to see you on here. :-)


Wow! I've just googled Lichfield catherdral and I have to say that I find it absolutely awe inspiring - the architecture is stunning. Thank you for mentioning it Errol. :-)

Elizabeth's thread is lovely and must say I
also enjoy reading this one.

Emma :-)

I know Lichfield Cathedral a little. It is a very interesting building with 3 spires. Thanks Errol for posting. Wish I could visit there, but doubtful.

Most lovely day today so far. Just a sprinkling of snow on tops, but extremely cold. Was over in Rhymney Valley this morning preaching. A junior church of about 10 and all of them go to a Welsh school. So we talked about Sul y Blodau (Flowering Sunday) and one of the ladies said she always went and tidied grave of her parents and decked it with flowers on Palm Sunday (Flowering Sunday). However, grave was 60 miles north in mid Wales and she had decided to leave it this year for a fortnight.

This afternoon I was in my own chapel in Rhondda and we had the lady Minister for the Rhymney Valley leading the service. So we must have driven past each other at some point. Quite a big congregation for us (25-30) and it was a very nice service with us taking a palm frond, splitting it in two and making a cross. Some of the ladies made wonderful crosses. Mine looked like a tied shoelace :-( :-( :-(

Perhaps it would be nice to have a few thoughts and prayers during Holy Week. I notice that ElizabethoftheSeasons has begun a thread for prayers today, which is a lovely thought. :-D :-D

Sounds wonderful..........don't think I've ever been to Lichfield.....will have to Google and take a look.


Thanks for that...... :-D

I love the architecture and agree - wonderful that nothing has been built round it

Beautiful frontage to the cathedral and so good that the council have not allowed buildings to spoil the view.

We may pop over this week to see the exhibition.

I don't get there very often Guinevere but I love it up by the cathedral and always find it very peaceful. It's one of the oldest places of its kind in the UK

Beaitiful cathedral - we had a day in Lichfield before Christmas.
Fabulous lunch at Chandlers as well.

If anybody is interested there is a fantastic exhibition by the (superb in my opinion) artist Ghislaine Howard at Lichfield cathedral of the stations of the cross

Palm Sunday it is indeed John.

People were handed a palm cross with their service book this morning and, at the beginning of the service, we held them aloft whilst a prayer of blessing was said.


No sermon but a reading of the passion narrative from St. John's gospel. It was done in dramatised form with several people taking part. At the same time, there was a powerpoint presentation to one side, quietly showing the various points from the narrative.


We have a quiet service each evening of Holy Week, culminating in main services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and, of course, Easter Day itself.

It's all go.........................but I absolutely love this time of year......

Palm Sunday and start of Holy Week, folks.

This was the day when Jesus was most popular on earth. When he began his descent down into Jerusalem (lit: city of peace) amidst crowds of wellwishers strewing palm fronds in front of him riding on an ass - the basest and most stubborn of creatures.

And how would be be greeted by his own religious colleagues in the city of peace? Story continues till Friday this week. Any contributions to Holy Week will be very welcome indeed.

For us Christians it goes on a bit further beyond Good Friday. For the first time ever, death is not the "last great enemy" of mankind. But don't want to spoil story too much ;-)

In parts of Wales, this Sunday is tradtionally called Flowering Sunday (Sul y Blodau) when graves are tidied and strewn with flowers to mark the end of winter. Suspect that tradition may be postponed to Easter Sunday or following week in many areas due to a metre of snow in some parts :-(

I certainly hope so John..........I certainly hope so. :-)