Stop at the crossBy Reverend David Burgess
When I was growing up, I was privileged to be a member of a church choir which went each Easter to St Paul’s Cathedral to sing Bach’s St Matthew Passion, together with other choirs from all over London and accompanied by a professional orchestra using instruments of Bach’s time.
The piece that has stayed with me for the best part of forty years is the magnificent final chorus, the words of which I can still recall from memory:
However, there’s a problem; that’s not what the original German says. In neither the St Matthew Passion nor the St John Passion is there a mention of Easter. When I Googled the first line of ‘my’ verse above, there were only three references, all dating back seventy or eighty years to performances of the Passion at that time. I suspect that some Victorian or Edwardian writer wanted to inject a little happiness into the proceedings and re-translated the last chorus, rather like the eighteenth century playwright who re-wrote King Lear to give it a happy ending!Lord, though awhile
In tears of sorrow
By thy tomb we mournful stand;
This night of sadness
Devoid of gladness
Shall soon be turned to Easter joy!
So Bach, good Protestant that he was, stopped at the cross: and I’ve had to change the direction of this article. Originally I was going to use the words that I remembered to illustrate how Good Friday leads to the joy of Easter, but Bach has made me stop as well.
It’s absolutely right to celebrate Easter Day as the most important and joyful festival in the Christian year. But you can’t have Easter without the cross, and you can’t gloss over Good Friday and the events of the crucifixion on the way to the celebration.
A few days ago I was asked the question “Why do we call it Good Friday?” The answer is straightforward but profound – we call it ‘Good’ because of what came from it. This means, though, that we first have to acknowledge what Jesus went through.
Can I invite you, then, to stop at the cross on your way to Easter? It needn’t be a long and painful process, because Jesus has undergone that for you. Just pause, remember, and give thanks for the sacrifice He made for you and for all of us, and allow that knowledge to deepen and strengthen your appreciation of the resurrection and of Easter Day.