Chaplain’s Corner

It is a wonderful tradition that we have here at Oxley, that sees our Year 12 students hosting the final Senior School chapel of Term 1, with an Easter focus. 

On Tuesday, we were blessed by an item by the Senior School Choir, we saw a beautiful depiction of the moments leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection, acted out in a dramatization, scripted below by Sharntai Niemann (12.10). In response, students were offered the opportunity to partake in communion, led by Simon Wang (12.8).

The Easter Story

The Easter Story begins on Palm Sunday where Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on a donkey being hailed as king. Throngs of people threw their cloaks on the ground before Him, waived palm branches in the air, and cried out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Hosanna is a Greek word often translated as ‘please save us’.

On the Monday of Holy Week, Jesus visited the temple and found it overrun with buying and selling but not worship. The Temple was to be a place of sacrifice, prayer, and revelation, where God’s priests would make intercession for God’s people. But this is not what Jesus found. And so Jesus, prior to His great sacrifice, became angry, overturned the moneychangers’ tables, drove them from the temple, and said “My Temple will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

On Tuesday, the religious leaders of Israel questioned the authority of Jesus. In every possible way Jesus had disrupted the corrupt religious establishment of His day. This angered the religious leaders. “Who does Jesus think He is?” And so the leaders conspired to trap Jesus, they confronted Him, and demanded to know, “By what authority are you doing these things?” Jesus answered their questions with a series of parables.

On Wednesday, Judas Iscariot (one of Jesus’ 12 disciples) went to the leading priest to betray Jesus. John 12 tells us that Judas was in charge of the disciples’ money and would often steal from the money bag. This greed led Judas to ask a terrible question of the priests, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” The priests offered him 30 pieces of silver and Judas began looking for his moment of betrayal.

The Easter story continues onto Maundy Thursday. The word Maundy comes from the Latin word, ‘Mandatum’, or ‘command’ which refers to the instructions Jesus gave His disciples at the Last Supper. On this day Jesus shared a final Passover meal with His disciples and He instructed them to “eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of Me.” This became the foundation of what Christian’s call ‘Communion’ or the ‘Eucharist.’

After sharing a meal, Jesus went to Gethsemane, a garden that sits at the base of the Mount of Olives. That night He wrestled with His impending death and He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Surrendering to His Father’s will, Jesus returned to His disciples where Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. And Jesus is arrested and taken away.

Good Friday. On this day, Jesus was tried before Pilate, whipped, beaten, mocked, hung upon a cross, and then buried in a tomb. On Saturday the Easter story comes to a halt. The promised Messiah dead, his body lying in a tomb, sealed shut with a giant stone. On this day the chief priests and Pharisees petitioned Pilate to place guards outside the tomb to make sure Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen.

Then, Easter Sunday, the day our Saviour rose from the dead! The resurrection of Christ is the single greatest event in all of history. It is the day that God forever broke the power of sin and death.

Through Christ’s great sacrifice, evil was conquered, and redemption was made available to all who believe!

Luke 24:1-7 says, On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two angels in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the angels said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

I pray for God’s richest blessings to be upon you and your family this Easter. I hope you enjoy a wonderful time of rest and rejuvenation. Also, a time of reflection and worship, as we recognise the significance of what Jesus Christ did for us upon the cross and continues to do for us, through the resurrection.

May I invite you, if you do not have an Easter service to attend, to join me at Life Ministry Church on Good Friday at 10.00am and Sunday morning, also at 10.00am. It is always a very special time together.

God bless,

Pastor Matt Daly

College Chaplain