From the

Chaplain

Easter Transformations

Easter and the days that surround it provide us with a visual feast in our part of the world. The leaves are beginning to shift colours as the Blue Mountains dress themselves in yet another seasonal blanket of beauty. We have a chance to consciously breathe in the brisk autumn air and to decompress after working hard to lay the foundations for the year ahead. During this time many of us will hear at least in passing about resurrection day, that first Easter day when Jesus defeated death and came back to life. But what if the miraculous truly happened? What if the transcendental and the historical were literally brought together on that first Easter day in order to point us to the God who made us? 

If it didn’t happen, if Jesus was simply a moral teacher with delusions of grandeur then believers in the resurrection are severely misguided in their convictions – the Apostle Paul was among the first to point this out in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. But if it did happen, if the miraculous is more than myth or magic, then Easter is the most important day in all of history. When Jesus died taking all of our sins upon Him, He tore down the curtain between God and humanity, the curtain that our sin put up. Jesus removed the irremovable roadblock and restored a pathway to God, a pathway through and to Himself. It is difficult to grasp just how significant this is, and for many including Jesus’ closest friends and followers, it can be difficult to place faith in this factually happening. Jesus spoke with Thomas about the blessed nature of having faith in the unseen, ‘Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”’ (John 20:29). But even curiosity can lead to faith which can in turn lead to a living and breathing life transforming faith in Jesus.

This Easter I want to encourage you to take a look the resurrection of Jesus from one of the four Gospels in the Bible (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20). It doesn’t take long to read and each time you do a new detail, insight, or perspective is gained – it is a truly bottomless text. Don’t let resurrection day pass you by this year. As we enjoy the natural transformation of the mountains that surround us, let us explore, question, and even be transformed by the supernatural miracle of Jesus coming back to life so that we can know God and have eternal hope and life. 

I wish you and your loved ones a very joyous and blessed Easter.  

Mr Luke Webb

Chaplain