“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark. . .” Did you hear it? Did you hear the echo? Listen again: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark. . .” That’s how John’s Easter story begins, the one we just heard. Does it remind you of another story? “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, darkness covered the face of the deep.” Maybe you recognize that one. That’s how the creation story begins, the very first verse of the Bible from book of Genesis. The echo is unmistakeable. The gospel that we heard today is a creation story. And just in case there was any doubt, did you notice where John sets this Easter story? In a garden.
Did any of you see the picture of the black hole, the first ever image of a black hole, that was released last week? It caused quite a stir, not just in the scientific community, but around the world. It was an image of the gigantic black hole located at the centre of galaxy M87, 50 million light years away from earth. For those of you that haven’t seen the picture, first thing you see when you look at is what looks like a ring of fire around the edge of the black hole. Then you see the dark centre which is the black hole itself. Now, scientists have known about black holes for a hundred years now, ever since Einstein published his theory of general relativity and physicists took those e
Is there a moment in your life when you knew, when you absolutely knew, deep down in your bones, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that you were loved? If so, you are blessed. You have been blessed with the most wonderful thing, a most powerful experience, a grace that makes so much else possible. For Jesus, this is that moment. “Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Extravagant love. Intimate love. Grace upon grace. Those of you who know me know that I am a measured person. Not too high, not too low. Careful what I say. Rational, sometimes even calculating. The i