Category Archives: Easter

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Unbounded Love, Bound Up

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“So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him.”

“Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.”

John 18:14 & 24

Over the season of Lent 2024 I’ve been journeying with the theme ‘Unbounded Love’, a phrase that appears within Charles Wesley’s Hymn ‘Love Divine’, and the title of the 2024 lent resources from The Methodist Church.

So as I began to prepare worship for Holy Week, I have been struck by the way John 18 refers to how Jesus was bound by those who arrested him, leading me to write this meditative reflection.

It could be used on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday, as a tool to reflect on the arrest of Jesus, and the uncertainty this would have left his followers with.

Unbounded Love, Bound Up

They bound him,
After they arrested him,
After the betrayer had kissed him,
After he had told Judas to do what he had to do.
What now?

They bound him.
The one who said come to me and I will give you rest.
The one who said he had come to give us life in all its fulness.
The one who said he would quench our thirst.
What now?

They bound him.
The one who showed compassion to the marginalised.
The one who offered release to those bound by evil.
The one who healed the sick and brought hope to so many.
What now?

Jesus – the one who came and showed us what real love looks like,
Compassionate, caring, nurturing, welcoming,
Love unconditional,
Love unlimited,
Love unbounded,

And his unbounded love angered them.

And so they bound him.
Unbounded love, bound up.
What now?

All Posts, Easter, Poetry, Seasonal

To leave and remain…Part 2

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The Sun rose.
The world awoke.
Another day.
The past week’s event almost forgotten.
Not for his followers.

The women gathered early.
Jesus might have left, but his body remained.
So they headed out to the tomb.

When they got there, the stone had moved and the body was gone.
All that remained were the burial clothes.
Now nothing remained. All had been taken.

And then, as Mary sat weeping,
Jesus appeared.
Alive.
He didn’t leave.
Somehow he remained.

Mary ran to the others, told them Jesus lived.
They struggled to believe.

And then, then Jesus appeared.
I am alive, he declared.

“Now I must leave, I can’t be with you in person any longer.
But my Spirit will remain with you always.”

To this day, by his Spirit, Jesus remains.
Transforming lives and communities through his unconditional love,
and longing for us to remain in him and experience his love.

If you want to know more, come and explore at Felpham Methodist Church, or send us a message.

First published by Felpham Methodist Church, April 2019

All Posts, Easter, Poetry, Seasonal

To leave and remain… Part 1

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The sky turned black.
The world watched…. and waited.
Jesus’ time seemed to be up.

He’d gathered with his friends, shared their final meal together.
“I will soon have to leave you” he said.
He’d gone to pray in the garden,
“Father, let this suffering leave me” he prayed.
Then he was betrayed.
handed over, put on trial.
His disciples scattered, leaving Jesus alone.

‘Crucify Him’ the crowd shouted.
So he was. Stripped. Flogged.
Marched up the hill.
And there, there he was killed.  
Hung from a cross and left to die.

Jesus had left.
His followers lost.
What to do now that Jesus no longer remained with them?

First published by Felpham Methodist Church, April 2019