“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
(Philippians 3 verses 10 and 11)

15. Resurrection

How has the walk with Jesus been for you?

Have you felt the challenge of conflict and the pain of sin?

Do you know what it would have been like to follow Jesus at a time when all seemed lost?

Death came and darkness fell, but that was before the Sabbath. The work was completed, a day of rest was taken, and now it is time to begin something new.

As Jesus’ followers looked to start work preserving Jesus’ body, they were greeted by God’s messengers with these words:

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24 verses 5 and 6)

Where do we look for Jesus? Are we content with old stories, or do we know a risen, living saviour?

And if our faith is in Jesus, if our hope would have died when he died, what happens now that we know he is alive?

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” (Romans 6 verse 8 )

It’s great news! And it gets better – that life starts now, and we are already freed from the burden which weighed Jesus down:

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus… For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace… For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6 verses 11, 14 and 23)

How will we use that gift today?

Celebrate with us

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

We have reached the end of this reflective journey, and the start of new life with Jesus. This was meant for us to live together – so why not join us and celebrate this Easter Sunday?

10.30am – Celebration of Easter, simply, with the cafe, garden, flowers, communion (and Easter eggs!)

Want to ask a question or share a thought?

As well as joining us in person, you can email easter@saint-stephens.com

Please indicate if your comments are private or for sharing, and we would love to hear from you.

Bern Leckie,

Development administrator, Saint Stephens

“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
(Philippians 3 verses 10 and 11)

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

As we continue our journey along the Stations of the Cross, find a few minutes to consider these images, and what they mean. The questions and quotes below may help. How will they shape the way you see the world today?

13. Taken from the cross

The responsibility for carrying has moved to Jesus’ family and followers. Lovingly, they take their hope in their hands. What are they feeling?

They had shared in Jesus’ work. They had seen healings and other miracles. They had the beginnings of a movement, a new kingdom, set to define their whole lives under Jesus as king.

Many had left homes and lives behind in order to follow. So now what?

It was not just Christ who had died. Ideas and expectations, even hope, seemed to die with him. For a follower whose life was fully invested in that hope, they died too.

As Saint Paul wrote:

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them…” (2 Corinthians 5 verses 14 and 15)

It has become their time to serve out of love for Jesus, and they carried him away to a donated tomb.

Where are our hopes? How much have we invested in them?

Is our commitment so strong that we are no longer living for ourselves?

Jesus’ body is in his followers’ hands, but his life is in his father’s hands. The greatest miracle and the real beginning of the kingdom are yet to come. The faithful whose hope had died will share in the life to come.

Are we ready to put our lives in God’s hands?

14. Laid in the tomb

While our hope in life may be to achieve many great things, hope for the dead is more simple – to preserve the body, and delay decay. What kind of hope are we living for right now?

While everyone who lives is unique and recognisable by action and character, it is harder to recognise one grave among many. How distinctive are we?

Jesus’ work had come to an end – at least for now. His followers hurried to start the preparations to preserve his body, because the sabbath day of rest was approaching.

What is the difference between rest and death? If we want a full life, can we afford to rest? God says we must. Do we trust him? Where are we looking for hope, comfort, security and identity?

“I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” (Psalm 16 verses 8 to 10)

Walk with us

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

Considering these things alone can be valuable, but daunting. When we walk through this together, we can find strength.

So you are invited to join us and walk the Stations of the Cross at Saint Stephens.

Holy Saturday 11th – 8.30pm – Celebrating the Mystery together with signs of the resurrection, the first communion of Easter, and the chants and sounds of mystery, hope and transformation

Easter Sunday 12th – 10.30am – Celebration of Easter, simply, with the cafe, garden, flowers, communion (and Easter eggs!)

Want to ask a question or share a thought?

As well as joining us in person, you can email easter@saint-stephens.com

Please indicate if your comments are private or for sharing, and we would love to hear from you.

Bern Leckie,

Development administrator, Saint Stephens

To join our Easter week mailing list, enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
(Philippians 3 verses 10 and 11)

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

As we continue our journey along the Stations of the Cross, find a few minutes to consider these images, and what they mean. The questions and quotes below may help. How will they shape the way you see the world today?

11. Crucified

Jesus is nailed to the cross he struggled to carry. On impact the nail would sever the median, the major nerve between arm and hand, causing continuous pain from which we get the word “excruciating”.

What force drove in those nails? The deliberate, repeated blows, from man-made tools, used by soldiers under orders, enforcing injustice, enabled by corruption, driven by the crowd fuelled by anger and fear.

What anger and fear? Anger at Jesus’ suggestion that no-one had earned their way to God? Anger that years of trying had not been good enough? Anger that we cannot be the masters, but he must?

Fear of wrath from jealous earthly kings? Fear of losing – nation, self, identity, everything? Fear that Jesus might be right?

Do we know that fear which says to anger “go ahead, strike hard, harder so that I remain unseen, and no-one will suspect that weakness drives our soulless strength.”

If this is us, broken by sin, how could we blame anyone else for breaking the body of Jesus?

But was it “my sin that held him there”? Or was it his love, his decision to remain there, until his work for us was done?

12. Jesus dies

“Iconic” is an overused word today, but some images are truly icons, representing something with meaning and purpose.

As Jesus was on display, naked and broken, what does this picture represent? Were God’s enemies, and our broken hearts, in control? Or was this a picture of God’s love made real?

Saint Paul argued that God was in control at this point: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” (Romans 3 verse 25)

Atonement was another well understood icon – one perfect sacrifice would be made for the community as a whole. The sacrifice represented punishment due, and justice done. By sharing that sacrifice, all of God’s people could enjoy renewed healthy relationships with God and each other.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

It turns out that while people had made iconic sacrifices in the past, God had been working to complete the reality which they all pointed to. Jesus’ sacrifice of himself was the perfect offering. Only a perfect priest – God himself – could have made it. So if “God presented Christ,” and God was in complete control at this moment, what role or power did his enemies have? Absolutely none.

But that was not how things looked at the moment of Jesus’ death.

If you had been there, and judged by what you saw, who would you say had won?

If you were a follower of Jesus, hoping for a miracle, how would you have felt when he gave up his spirit with a loud cry?

If you had heard Jesus’ words “it is finished”, would that have sounded like defeat or victory?

When defeat seems certain for us, do we know what is really happening?

Are we going to walk with the enemies who say that death has won, or with Jesus, who is meeting death and knowing that there is more life to come? What will we bring to his altar, the cross, today?

Walk with us

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

Considering these things alone can be valuable, but daunting. When we walk through this together, we can find strength.

So you are invited to join us and walk the Stations of the Cross at Saint Stephens.

Good Friday 10th – stillness and space from noon, then Praying the Stations of the Cross from 2pm

Holy Saturday 11th – 8.30pm – Celebrating the Mystery together with signs of the resurrection, the first communion of Easter, and the chants and sounds of mystery, hope and transformation

Easter Sunday 12th – 10.30am – Celebration of Easter, simply, with the cafe, garden, flowers, communion (and Easter eggs!)

Want to ask a question or share a thought?

As well as joining us in person, you can email easter@saint-stephens.com

Please indicate if your comments are private or for sharing, and we would love to hear from you.

Bern Leckie,

Development administrator, Saint Stephens

To join our Easter week mailing list, enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
(Philippians 3 verses 10 and 11)

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

As we continue our journey along the Stations of the Cross, find a few minutes to consider these images, and what they mean. The questions and quotes below may help. How will they shape the way you see the world today?

9. The third fall

There is a battle we know well. Good against evil is not just in stories, it is in us, and it was visible in Jesus’ struggle with the cross. For a third time, the weight of what was placed upon Jesus overcame his human body. We might know God’s strength, but even Jesus’ closest followers know this battle too. As Saint Paul wrote:

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7 verses 21 to 24)

What are the battlegrounds for us? What are the things we want to overcome, but keep weighing us down?

When we think of the world, we might think of the big battles – from wars between nations to fights against injustice, crime, poverty and fear. Where is our part in those battles? How can our courage make a difference?

What about the battles closer to us? When there are disputes at work, or arguments at home, what can we do to bring peace and grow relationships? What gets in the way of that?

Maybe the personal battles are the hardest. If, like Paul, I want to do good, but evil is right there with me, what do I need to overcome? Addictions or hurtful desires? Pride, anger or rebellion? Maybe simply a fear of failure?

The weight of our failures can seem immense. Jesus carried them all and, while the struggle was tough, we know that he got up after the fall. The end of the battle is only a few steps away.

“Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7 verses 24 and 25)

10. Preparing for crucifiction

Jesus arrived at Golgotha, “the place of the skull”, the site of his execution. What kind of victory was it to get here? His enemies must have thought they were the victors. How would Jesus have felt in this final faceoff?

As they prepared to place Jesus on the cross, they removed his clothes, which the soldiers would later divide among themselves. Jesus now owned nothing man made; no source of identity or comfort came between Jesus and the world which condemned him.

If we were to face death, we would have to leave man made things behind too. What are the things which give us comfort? What do we put between ourselves and the people who look at us?

Clothes were as significant in Jesus’ culture as they are for us – perhaps even more so. The wealthy could be recognised by their rare, expensive fabrics. Clean white garments indicated good self care and health for most people. Even those of the lowest status or choosing to show humility had sackcloth to wear. God clothed Adam and Eve, and a lack of clothes in this culture would have been extremely shameful.

Yet Jesus gave everything up. What does this mean for us if we are following him?

Saint Paul wrote to the church about the discomfort of life as we are caught between old problems and new hope of things to come. “We groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” (2 Corinthians 5 verses 2 to 4)

As we groan at the pain of change, what are we really longing for? Do we have a hope which is more than man made?

Are we ready to swap our old clothes for new life?

Walk with us

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

Considering these things alone can be valuable, but daunting. When we walk through this together, we can find strength.

So you are invited to join us and walk the Stations of the Cross at Saint Stephens.

Thursday 9th – 5.30pm – “Last Supper” together, with food and friendship leading into reflection and meditation, preparing critical.mass to share communion

Good Friday 10th – stillness and space from noon, then Praying the Stations of the Cross from 2pm

Holy Saturday 11th – 8.30pm – Celebrating the Mystery together with signs of the resurrection, the first communion of Easter, and the chants and sounds of mystery, hope and transformation

Easter Sunday 12th – 10.30am – Celebration of Easter, simply, with the cafe, garden, flowers, communion (and Easter eggs!)

Want to ask a question or share a thought?

As well as joining us in person, you can email easter@saint-stephens.com

Please indicate if your comments are private or for sharing, and we would love to hear from you.

Bern Leckie,

Development administrator, Saint Stephens

To join our Easter week mailing list, enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
(Philippians 3 verses 10 and 11)

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

As we continue our journey along the Stations of the Cross, find a few minutes to consider these images, and what they mean. The questions and quotes below may help. How will they shape the way you see the world today?

7. The second fall

Jesus has been supported and comforted in his painful journey, and yet the cross is overwhelming. The legend holds that he fell a second time. Was Jesus defeated in spirit before his work was finished?

Glory was yet to come, but this fall shows the contrast between the mighty triumph of God ahead, and the brokenness and failure of the human body under pressure.

Saint Paul later wrote to the church with encouragement taken from this contrast. We learn to point people to Jesus, not ourselves, as the light in life’s darkness, but…

“…we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4 verses 7 to 10)

Where are we looking for strength?

8. The women weep

Gospel writer Luke records that a large number of people followed Jesus, even as he strained towards death. In particular, Luke noted the women who mourned and wailed for him (Luke 23 verse 27).

This is the only recorded instance of Jesus in conversation along the walk with the cross. What would you expect Jesus to say? What would you want to hear from him? Would you hope for comfort and encouragement? This is what he said:

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”‘* For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23 verses 28 to 31) (* quote from Hosea 10 verse 8 )

Jesus acknowledged the bleakness of the human condition without a saviour.

Do we feel the need for Jesus?

Would we get by without him?

What would the world be like without Christ’s journey to the cross?

When we make our contribution to the world, who do we credit and glorify as the source of our strength, life and love?

Walk with us

Day 1 – - – Day 2 – - – Day 3 – - – Day 4 – - – Day 5 – - – Day 6 – - – Day 7 – - – Day 8 – - ->

Considering these things alone can be valuable, but daunting. When we walk through this together, we can find strength.

So you are invited to join us and walk the Stations of the Cross at Saint Stephens.

Wednesday 8th – 1.00pm – Praying the Stations of the Cross

Thursday 9th – 5.30pm – “Last Supper” together, with food and friendship leading into reflection and meditation, preparing critical.mass to share communion

Good Friday 10th – stillness and space from noon, then Praying the Stations of the Cross from 2pm

Holy Saturday 11th – 8.30pm – Celebrating the Mystery together with signs of the resurrection, the first communion of Easter, and the chants and sounds of mystery, hope and transformation

Easter Sunday 12th – 10.30am – Celebration of Easter, simply, with the cafe, garden, flowers, communion (and Easter eggs!)

Want to ask a question or share a thought?

As well as joining us in person, you can email easter@saint-stephens.com

Please indicate if your comments are private or for sharing, and we would love to hear from you.

Bern Leckie,

Development administrator, Saint Stephens

To join our Easter week mailing list, enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner