Well, a few of us who were able met on Thursday evening and shared a meal together. We had lamb Bobotie – a South African dish and Jamie Oliver’s Hot Cross buns pudding – delicious! We talked around lots of things, but also a little about our feelings about that last night in Jesus’ life. It was then that all was won or lost as this was the last time that Jesus truly could exercise his own will… We share bread and wine, concentrating on the meaning of each at the Passover meal. The bread was unleavened – leaven / yeast representing sin; a reminder of the bread carried on the exodus journey – they were ‘with-breaders’ with God as their ‘com-panion’; there are 3 ‘matzot’ on the table – named after the 3 Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; it is the middle one that is broken – the Isaac – the one who was taken for sacrifice; the other half is hidden and called the ‘afikomen’ – ‘that which is to come’; it was this that Jesus redefined as his body broken for us… There are 4 cups of wine drunk during the course of the meal, recalling 4 promises from Exodus 6:6-7. The first cup is for the promise ‘I will bring you out’ – and is known as the cup of deliverance; the second,’ I will deliver you from slavery’ – the cup of freedom; the third, ‘I will redeem you with a demonstration of my power – the cup of redemption’ – this was the cup redefined by Jesus as his blood of the new covenant; the fourth cup, ‘I will acquire you as a nation’ – the cup of consummation, he did not drink. These ideas informed our words as were shared the bread and wine around the table. On Easter morning we used the following words for our communion:

• This is the bread of the Passover which Jesus shared with his friends at the Last Supper
• It is the unleavened bread – the ‘without-sin’ bread
• It is the middle matzah that Jesus broke – the Isaac – the bread of sacrifice
• It is the afikomen – the ‘that-which-is-to-come’ bread.
• It was the bread prescribed to the Hebrews to take on the exodus from Egypt – they were sent out ‘with bread’ – with God as their ‘com-panion’
• This is the promise of Jesus as our ‘with-breader’ – our companion on the journey
• This is the body of Christ broken for us, for the forgiveness of sins

• This is the third cup of the Passover meal which Jesus shared with his friends at the Last Supper
• It is the cup of power
• It is the cup of redemption
• It is the cup of thanksgiving
• It is the cup of the new covenant
• It is the cup of promise
• It is the cup of suffering
• This is the blood of Christ given for many, for the forgiveness of sins

We also shared readings – from The Message’s version of Matthew 28 – was it just me or can you hear a hint of laughter in Jesus’s voice? We thought of words from an Easter hymn and wrote words of thanks on crosses. We heard words from Archbishop John Sentamu, ate home-made hot cross buns, hearing the story of their origins and using the ancient greeting ‘A piece for you, a piece for me, between us all good will shall be’. And we used the poem of Gerard Kelly below – reminding us that Easter is so much more than David Cameron’s so secular summing up!

Because He is Risen

Because He is risen

Spring is possible

In all the cold hard places

Gripped by winter

And freedom jumps the queue

To take fear’s place as our focus

Because He is risen

Because He is risen

My future is an epic novel

Where once it was a mere short story

My contract on life is renewed in perpetuity

My options are open-ended

My travel plans are cosmic

Because He is risen

Because He is risen

Healing is on order and assured

And every disability will bow

Before the endless dance of his ability

And my grave too will open

When my life is restored

For this frail and fragile body

Will not be the final word on my condition

Because He is risen

Because He is risen

Hunger will go begging in the streets

For want of a home

And selfishness will have a shortened shelf-life

And we will throng to the funeral of famine

And dance on the callous grave of war

And poverty will be history

In our history

Because He is risen

And because He is risen

A fire burns in my bones

And my eyes see possibilities

And my heart hears hope

Like a whisper on the wind

And the song that rises in me

Will not be silenced

As life disrupts

This shadowed place of death

Like a butterfly under the skin

And death itself

Runs terrified to hide

Because He is risen

Gerard Kelly: Spoken Worship

Happy Easter to all our dispersed members and friends of ThirdSpace. Hallelujah! Christ is risen!