Viewing all items in Resource Category: Holy Days

At the Last Supper Jesus shocked His disciples by washing their feet. He did this as an example, to demonstrate to them that they should serve others with humility. Over the centuries, some churches have recreated this act of humility at a special service on Maundy Thursday.

Good Friday is the day on which Jesus died on the cross. He was crucified at 9 a.m. in the morning, and died six hours later, at 3pm. It is the most solemn day in the Christian year, and is widely marked by the removal of all decorations from churches. In Lutheran churches, the day...

Luke’s account of the crucifixion (Luke 23:32-43) emphasises the mocking of the crowd, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself’ (35,37,39). In their view a Messiah does not hang on a cross and suffer. In considering the two men who were crucified with Jesus, we are also confronted with the issue of...

Easter Eve is the last day of Lent. It is the day between Good Friday and Easter Day, and represents the one full day that Jesus was dead. It is a day of quiet reflection and anticipation for Christians worldwide. In various church traditions it is known as Easter Eve, Holy Saturday, the Great Sabbath,...

Easter is the most joyful day of the year for Christians. Christ has died for our sins. We are forgiven. Christ has risen!  We are redeemed! We can look forward to an eternity in His joy! Hallelujah! The Good News of Jesus Christ is a message so simple that you can explain it to someone...

As the traditional Easter story is rehearsed again this month, you may notice that there is one name that frequently occurs. It is that of the ‘other’ Mary – not the mother of Jesus, but Mary of Magdalene, who stood by her at the cross and became the first person actually to meet the risen...

Three years after the Russian Revolution of 1917, a great anti-God rally was arranged in Kiev. The powerful orator Bukharin was sent from Moscow, and for an hour he demolished the Christian faith with argument, abuse and ridicule. At the end there was silence. Then a man rose and asked to speak. He was a...

The following list of witnesses may help you put all those references in order…. Mary Magdalene – Mark 16:9-11; John 20:10-18 Other women at the tomb – Matthew 28:8-10 Peter in Jerusalem – Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5 The two travellers on the road – Mark 16:12,13 10 disciples behind closed doors – Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-43; John...

How do you make sense of the Resurrection? Dead men don’t rise, so why believe that this particular dead man did rise? At the end of St Luke’s gospel we read that: “they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement” (Luke 24.4). This is highly significant. The Gospels do not show us a...

 The Christian teaching about who crucified Christ is not that the Romans or the Jews or whatever people happened to be there did, but that you and I did, and that all human societies without exception are involved in the crucifixion of Christ.  – Northrop Frye They crucified Him with the criminals.  Which is more...

Standing up to tyrants, no matter what the cost. That kind of courage has been in the headlines since the war in Ukraine began, as many brave people have defied Putin’s oppression. Dietrich Bonhoeffer did not have Putin to contend with, but Hitler. Bonhoeffer did not back down either, when the time came. Bonhoeffer grew...

William Law is the saint for anyone forced to choose between losing their job or losing their integrity. It had all begun so straightforwardly. Born in King’s Cliffe, Northamptonshire in 1686, William had studied at Emmanuel College Cambridge, been ordained a deacon, and been made a Fellow of the college in 1711. But soon politics...