Crucifixion isn't exactly the subject that you want to think about while you and your loved ones are in lockdown mode.
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This Easter will certainly be for most of us, one that we will remember until our days end. No camping, no visiting grandma or grandpa, no travel away from home, no Stawell Gift.
But Easter eggs and hot cross buns will still provide us with a visual reminder of the season that we have come to know as Easter.
This year, you will not see the special church services or the family gatherings around the barbecue or campsite, but what you will see is the cross on the hot cross bun. That cross contains a vital message and the message is this.
Jesus died on a brutal killing device, a devise that was used so mercilessly by the Romans back in the first century. That horrific wooden torture instrument which I refer to was a cross.
It is very fair to ask why the cross is still the central symbol of Easter, after all we are referring to an event that happened around 2000 years ago.
Let me answer that question by saying that often people suggest that Christianity is a bit sadistic to have the cross as its centrepiece and I understand that, but the focus of Christian devotion is not on the cruelty of the cross, it is, though on the meaning of the cross.
The manner of Jesus death wasn't unusual, it was very common practice for the ancient Romans to kill troublemakers by crucifixion.
Christians don't admire the cross because they are fans of torture. They admire it because in dying on the cross Jesus made a meaningful sacrifice to others.
In other words, he gave us a second chance. His death was a gift to people everywhere. Why? Because He died in your place.
At City Heart Church of Christ, we talk about the cross on a weekly basis. In some ways our talk has become shorthand for talking about the extra ordinary way that God demonstrated his love for us. Instead of letting us sinners suffer the consequences of sin God gave Jesus as a gift to die in our place and in doing so he freed us from judgement and gave us peace with the holy God of the universe. That is why you see the cross hanging from the walls of churches and around the necks of believers all over the world.
So, this Easter when you see that powerful cross symbol laced across a beautiful tasty sticky bun stop and think. This Easter lets remember that the cross changes everything.
Christians believe that the word and symbol of the cross became the unlikely word for love and it is this same love that will see us through the tough times that we are experiencing at the moment in our lives as we contend with the coronavirus and the implications it has on our daily living.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
Pastor Terry Dunn is pastor of City Heart Church of Christ Stawell