Letter from Jon, April 2022 

 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.                                     Matt 1:21
 
Dear Friends
 
It maybe seems strange that as we approach Easter I have chosen a verse which we would more commonly associate with Christmas.  These are the words spoken in a dream to Joseph when he was considering quietly divorcing his pregnant wife, to let him know that the baby she carried was no ordinary child.  This baby was, and is, the Christ, the Messiah, our Saviour.  When I read these verses earlier this morning I was reminded of the meaning of the name ‘Jesus’.  The name was a fairly common name, the Greek form of Joshua, which means ‘The Lord saves’.  The angel who appeared to Joseph in the dream made it clear that the reason he was to be called Jesus is ‘because he will save his people from their sins.’
 
It seems that there is a heightened awareness at the moment of the horrific ugliness of sin in our world, whether the stories and images we see from Ukraine, the mounting refugee crisis, or the rise of a financial crisis bringing poverty, debt and fear.  At these times it is good to be reminded that God himself became one of us and was subjected to the worst consequences of sin to save us.  God himself became Immanuel, God with us, to save us from our sins, to bear our sins on a cruel Roman cross, to die and on the third day to rise from dead, breaking the power of sin and death.
 
Jesus Christ came to inaugurate a new covenant, a new kingdom, a kingdom of justice, peace and righteousness.  Our message is a message of hope, of a coming kingdom where sin and pain will be no more, and we will live in the light and presence of our God. 
 
As we speak the name of Jesus this Easter, let us be reminded in each utterance of that beautiful name, that ‘The Lord Saves”.  He has saved, he is saving and he will save.  Let us take this message of hope, this glorious Good News into every place where we set our feet.  His name is Jesus; the Lord saves.  Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
 
Much love and hope
 
Jon