Holy Brit

At the Daily Office we have read through Matthew and most of John during this year. This means we have heard the Gospel from two very different story tellers - but, of course, however the story is told it ends up in the same place - a wooden cross on a hill outside Jerusalem and then the astonishing experience and news which is resurrection.

Today's reading from John stopped at the moment at which Jesus died. Often when the passion narrative is read in Church there is a pause at this moment. Some churches encourage people to bow or genuflect to remember this terrible moment in all our history. There is a silence around death but the Gospels are true to life. Time almost seems suspended as Jesus breathes his last and then there is a flurry of activity with trying to get the body in its resting place before the Sabbath. There is a flurry from the Jews as they beg for guards to prevent lies about Jesus - to prevent his disciples stealing the body and hiding it and saying he rose. Things are very busy.

In all our busy-ness, we are called to these moments of silence. Perhaps we are not always at the foot of the cross but there are moments which we all experience which cause us to pause and question, to pause and wonder. These moments are often devastating but they are also invitations to turn again - they are invitations to resurrection and re-discovery.