In his Easter Message, the Bishop of Chelmsford, The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, says: "Let Jesus change your life and the world." Read the Message in full below.
Events this Easter in Chelmsford Diocese
Palm Sunday, 17 April - Easter Sunday, 24 April: Easter Services at Chelmsford Cathedral.
Monday 18 April, 8.30pm at The Oddfellows' Arms, Springfield Road, Chelmsford & Tuesday 19 April, 8.00pm at The Queen's Head, Church Road, Boreham: The Bishop of Chelmsford will be reading and discussing the Bible as part of Bible Year 2011 and Beer & Bible.
Maundy Thursday, 21 April, 1.30pm: The Bishop will be shining shoes near The Saracen's Head in Chelmsford High Street as a symbolic act to echo Jesus' washing of his disciples' feet at the Last Supper.
Good Friday, 22 April - Easter Sunday, 24 April, 7.30pm: Hornchurch Passion Play on The Green, Hornchurch.
Easter Monday, 11.30am: Bikers' Ride-Out to Epping Forest. Meet Father Alex Gowing-Cumber at the Tea Hut, Cross Roads, High Beach IG10 4HR. In aid of the Bishop of Chelmsford's Lent Appeal (motorbikes for Kenya). Further details from Father Alex on 01375 482252 or email fralexgc@aol.com
The Bishop of Chelmsford's Easter Message
The gospel message of the resurrection begins with fear, confusion and amazement. The women go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus and they find the stone rolled away and the body gone. Figures appear to them and they are terrified. A message is delivered - 'Why do you look for the living among the dead' - but it makes no sense. They don't know what to think or believe.
The twelve disciples lock themselves away. Till this point they have felt all sorts of things – embarrassment and regret at their cowardice; guilt at their betrayals and denials; relief, that at last it is all over. The great hopes that they had placed in Jesus are now extinguished; nailed to the cross and done away with forever.
But the strange events of the night, and a realisation which dawns with the new day, is altogether more disturbing. It is only just beginning.
And the meaning itself is not clear or obvious. The Risen Jesus is either not seen at all, or seen and not recognised.
He is both the same person – the one who was crucified; and a different person, alive with a new and more challenging and more available sort of life. Going back to how things were is not an option. And it is very frightening. His risen presence is beyond them - the first message of Easter, delivered from the empty tomb is this: 'He is not here. He is risen.' - and beside them – they encounter him in the garden, on the road, and by the beach. Even as he leaves to go to the Father, he says that he will always be with them.
What does this mean for us, his followers today? Well, it means that we must look for Jesus not just where he has been, and not just in what is familiar, but beyond ourselves, and beyond our present understandings. He is going before us, and we will now find him in ways that challenge and disturb. And in all this we must be his witnesses.
This is the Easter message. Look for Jesus. Serve him. Tell his story. Let his new and radical availability change your life and change the world. No wonder the first disciples were frightened and confused. No wonder Mary Magdalene clung onto Jesus. They had an enormous job to do: to witness to the Risen Christ. No wonder we are fearful when we consider that we are charged with the same responsibility today.
But when the disciples did see him and recognise him, fear gave way to joy, and in the power of the Spirit that joy has spread throughout the world. We are the inheritors. So, may the joy of Easter be with you, and may we rise up to tell the story of our amazing God. Our world needs what only the Risen Christ can supply.
+Stephen
Bishop of Chelmsford