On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ John 20:19 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.20.19.NIVUK
Quite a few years ago, I was away from my family for my birthday. I was in Romania, so I decided to travel from my home in Brasov to visit my closest friends in Pitesti. I caught the bus and sat down for a delightful five hour journey across the Carpathian Alps. It was autumn, so the scenery was stunning. If anyone has done the journey, then you'll know that rural Romania is particularly charming. I arrived in Pitesti bus station and it didn't take long for the glow from my journey to disappear. I caught a taxi to my friend's house and I got an inkling from a faint murmur from the radio that there had been an attack somewhere in the world. When I reached my friend's apartment, I realised what had happened. The date was 11 September 2001. The Twin Towers in New York had been attacked. 9/11 was taking place. Instead of singing 'Happy birthday' in Romanian and eating cake, we sat pensively watching re-runs of the planes striking the buildings on Euronews and CNN, while my friend's dad asked me if I thought this was the end of the world. Events had totally overshadowed my birthday. History was taking place around me. This was one of those 'where were you when...?' moments. All of us have these. The generation before mine remembered where they were when Elvis died, John Lennon was shot or Kennedy was assassinated. Mine remembers the sinking of the Belgrano, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Chernobyl accident, Kurt Cobain's suicide... And now we'll all remember the Coronavirus Lockdown. Events are happening all around us. History is live. And there is a real danger it could overshadow the most important event that ever occurred. As I start to write these lines, the light is waning on Easter Sunday 2020. It's been another significant day, as even famous people are succumbing to the dangerous virus affecting most of the world. However, as Christians, we have Good News - the best news - that could bring hope to billions cowering in fear: Christ is risen! But why is this news so important? And what effect could it have on our pestilence-filled planet? There are four stages in this meeting in John 20 that should make a profound difference in our lives. The first of these is THE DISCIPLES GATHERED, which we will meditate on in my next post.
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