fidzbit

Jesus voluntarily gave up His freedoms in order to win forgiveness and life for sinners. He was ‘imprisoned’ to the Will of God through a willing obedience. At the end of His life He was captured by Roman soldiers, mocked, beaten and crucified. After He breathed His last on the Friday afternoon, His body was incarcerated in a sealed and guarded tomb until the Sunday morning. Then He broke free of the chains of death and rose back to life. Demonstrating a power that could even escape the grave, Jesus resurrection life is now marked by an unrestrained freedom to go and do as He chooses. That first Sunday evening Jesus’ friends had gathered in a room and locked all the doors for fear that they could be treated as the master had been. But a locked door was no hindrance to Jesus. He appeared in the room - a real physical presence - showed them His wounds and brought them a message of peace. A similar thing happened in another locked room a week later. On the day of Pentecost t...

Across the UK people have been gathering to applaud NHS workers living in their neighbourhoods. In normal times it is easy enough to complain about perceived short-comings in health care but at such a time as this we recognise the risks that doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical professionals must undertake. Some are making the decision to carry on caring even though they have not been provided with adequate personal protective equipment, knowing full well what could happen to them as a result. A growing number have lost their lives to the covid-19 virus, paying "the ultimate price" whilst trying to save the lives of strangers. When we describe a self-sacrificial death as a "price" or "cost" we recognise that the life laid down has value. But why are medical heroes willing to do this? Is it not because they feel that every life is worth saving, if at all possible? Think of the terrible decisions that have to be made because there are ...

It might be hard to see what good can come out of being locked in your own home for weeks on end. If there are tensions and difficulties in the family, being stuck together can make things worse. On the other hand, you may really appreciate the extra time together and find things to be thankful for. It is really unusual for children to get so much time with their parents and, hopefully, with a bit of effort we will be able to build some happy memories with them during this time. When Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Philippi he was in the middle of his own lockdown - he was in prison. He was probably chained to a Roman soldier, at least some of the time, and therefore unable to even move about freely. Paul was a man who travelled, a man of action, and he must have really felt the pain of this forced isolation. Nevertheless his letter is full of praise and thanksgiving. Even in his cell, he has found work to do for the Lord. So he wrote: ...

On the 12th April the Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that the UK coronavirus death toll has reached 10,000, calling it a ‘somber day’.  The great biblical leader and prophet Moses had his own ‘somber day’. Nearing the end of Israel’s 40 year journey he learned  that he would die out in the wilderness and not enter God’s Promised Land. By that point Israel’s death toll was nearly 2.5 million - most of the people who left Egypt were dead and buried. That is a large number of funerals! It was probably around that time when Moses wrote Psalm 90. This ancient song expresses the confusion and disappointment God’s people experience in the face of death, when we are confronted with the brevity of life, and our failure to realise God’s promises in the way that we had hoped - things many of us may be feeling now . Lord, you have been our dwelling place  in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth,      or ever you had formed th...

Two or three weeks into our ‘lockdown’ we are still adapting to the new restrictions. With many more weeks to go, it is beyond most of us to try and imagine what life will look like when we regain our liberty.   Just before dawn on the first Easter Sunday, Jesus’ disciples could not imagine anything changing. His body was still in lockdown: bound in grave clothes, sealed in a tomb, and guarded by Roman soldiers.  Some of the women who followed Him were on their way to the grave with the fragrant spices needed to finish the embalming process. Then something astounding happened. There was an earthquake and the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven to roll the stone away and open the tomb. The soldiers were terrified and collapsed as though they were dead. But this was not the most remarkable occurrence. Jesus was raised back to life. He was not just freed from the tomb and the soldiers. He was also freed from death. As the women arrived they were met by angels who...

There was a tragically sad photograph on a news report yesterday. It showed forty or more simple wooden coffins being buried in a mass grave, somewhere in New York State, which currently has an extremely high number of coronavirus cases. They contained the remains of people who were either too poor to afford a funeral or who had dropped out of regular society, losing their formal identities somewhere along the way. By the end of the first ‘Good Friday’, Jesus too was dead and buried. The soldiers made certain by piercing his side with a spear, rupturing His heart, though it had already stopped beating. Jesus was too poor to afford a grave. He had died alongside two men whose crimes were so socially and politically unacceptable, that their ‘identities’ were being permanently wiped out. His body was eventually taken and laid in a tomb owned by a generous donor. The tomb was sealed with a large stone and a team of Roman soldiers put in place to guard the body. His burial was an impriso...

We are familiar with the idea of a hero giving their life to win freedom for other people. Giving up your freedom to save lives - as we are being asked to do as we voluntarily stay inside during this coronavirus lockdown - is a much more counter-intuitive idea. One dimension of the Christian message which we reflect on at Easter is the way in which Jesus voluntarily gave up His freedoms in order to save lives. If there had been any other way, He would have chosen to avoid the pain and suffering of that first ‘Good Friday’. But there was no other way and He had wrestled the issue through before God in agonising prayer the night before: “ Not My will but Yours be done !” He was committed to being “ obedient unto death - even death on a cross”. Jesus was, if you like, voluntarily ‘imprisoned’ by the will of God. Within the restraints and constraints of the divine purpose Jesus found Himself literally imprisoned. He was betrayed by His disciple Judas, arrested by a team of soldiers,...