The Tribune

By Rev Laish Boyd

Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands

“He is risen, as He said.”

– Matthew 28:6

Archer T Gurney wrote a well-loved Easter hymn, inspired by the above verse from St Matthew’s gospel. The words of the first two verses are:

1 Christ is risen! Christ is risen! 2 See the chains of death are broken; He hath burst His bonds in twain; Earth below and Heav’n above Christ is risen! Christ is risen! Joy in each amazing token Alleluia! swell the strain! Of His rising, Lord of love; For our gain He suffered loss He forevermore shall reign By divine decree; By the Father’s side, He hath died upon the cross, Till He comes to earth again, But our God is He. Comes to claim His Bride.

This reminds us that Easter is about the breaking asunder of some heavy chains which had restricted humans up until that point.

At Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is the principal festival on the Christian calendar. It is at the heart of our faith, and let us never forget this fact. In the noise, haste and troubles of life, we must also embrace and live Easter. We cannot let life rob us of the belief and joy that has reigned supreme in human history and that has changed more lives than any other person or thing over the past 2,000 years; no other life has had the same influence as the “one solitary life” of Jesus.

But Easter is more than that: it is also a symbol of the power and preeminence of God over the world and over creation. It is our reminder that there is no human experience, circumstance, dilemma or malady that cannot be overcome by the power of God. At Easter, Jesus’ victory therefore gives us victory.

These benefits “kicks in” when we believe in God and trust in Him to be the Lord of our lives.

The Easter story is 2,000 years old, but it is ever new once our faith in the Living God is the compass leading our living, our priorities, our actions and our goals. This faith and this relationship ushers us into a place of solitude and solace that cannot be found anywhere else.

The great writer George Herbert wrote the following in his poem, “The Pulley”:

When God at first made man,

Having a glass of blessings standing by, “Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can. Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie, Contract into a span.”

So strength first made a way; Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure. When almost all was out, God made a stay, Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure, Rest in the bottom lay. “For if I should,” said he, “Bestow this jewel also on my creature, He would adore my gifts instead of me, And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature; So both should losers be.

“Yet let him keep the rest, But keep them with repining restlessness; Let him be rich and weary, that at least, If goodness lead him not, yet weariness May toss him to my breast.”

May the truth and timelessness of the Easter message find its way into the fabric of our lives through a relationship with the risen Saviour. May our troubled, restless hearts find rest only where true joy is found. We will find it nowhere else but in union with the God of Easter, in knowing this God and serving this God.

Happy Easter from the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.