Saturday 2 April 2016

Easter Shadows.

Violence has cast a long shadow over Easter 2016.  The bombs in Brussels, the trial of Radovan Karadzic with images of his atrocities, and the murders in Clydebank and Shawlands have served to remind us of the dark side of human nature.  It is difficult enough to face all of this but perhaps more so when we are people of faith.  After the Dunblane tragedy a man said to me:  ‘This is a hard time for fellows like you.’  I suppose he meant that it is difficult to confront such horror and bring a message of hope.  And he is right.  We should all recognise the challenge of faith in the midst of tragedy and suffering.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that at the heart of the Universe there is a God of love and justice who is in control.  But this is one of the great assurances that arise out of the last days of Jesus life on earth.  Even in the depths of the darkness that engulfed our Lord God was working for the renewal of all humankind. 

I recently visited the grave of a friend who died last year.  He had been living with cancer for six years, enduring the most debilitating of treatments, before the disease eventually overwhelmed him.   On his headstone are the words: ‘Nothing will ever separate me from the love of God.’   This is from a passage of Scripture in which the Apostle Paul reflects on the worst things that could ever happen.  He speaks of ‘trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword’ and against these things he places a question: ‘Is there anything there that will ever be able to separate me from the love of God?’   His answer?  ‘There is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’  (Romans 8: 35-39)

I have no doubt that Paul had questions.   The extent of suffering he endured throughout his life was beyond anything that most people go through.   But still he was convinced of the love of God and His good purpose in his life. I believe that this can be explained by the centrality of the Cross in Paul’s faith.  He saw the love of God working in and through the death of Jesus.  On the surface it was a ghastly spectacle but Paul came to believe that this death opened up the opportunity for forgiveness and renewal for the whole of humankind.   The confirmation of this was in the Resurrection of Jesus when the light from the tomb scattered the darkness around the Cross and the followers of Jesus understood what had been achieved through His suffering. 


The questions will always remain but reflection on the Cross and the extent of Jesus’ sufferings can bring the hope that even in the worst of circumstances the love of God is present and His good purpose is unfolding.