The Easter story according to Christian faith,

OK, bear with me on this one... I am not trying to give you all a bible lesson, however I realise that living in a multicultural society as we do now that not everyone knows the story of Easter according to the Christian faith. THe reason for telling you this is that Easter or Semana Santa here in Spain is much celebrated. An explanation of which follows. It is therefore important to have some idea of the Easter story to try and appreciate the processions I have been to here this weekend....

Maundy Thursday
Jesus Christ performed many wonderful miracles. He healed the sick and raised the dead as he went about different towns and villages. Many people believed in Him and followed Him. For them, Jesus was a father and a teacher whom they admired and loved. His followers called themselves His disciples because they were learning from Him. Of these disciples, Jesus chose twelve men who were know as His apostles. They were to go preach and teach the people the teachings of Jesus.

The rulers and priests of Jerusalem became very jealous of Jesus as many people were following Him. They wanted to get rid of Jesus. Jesus tried to warn His apostles of this danger as they went to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. The apostles did not believe that their beloved teacher could be harmed. John and Peter, two of the apostles, asked Jesus, “Teacher, where shall we have the Passover supper ?”. Jesus answered, “Go to the city and you will see a man with a jar of water. Follow him home. We will have the Passover supper in the upper large room of that house”. That Thursday evening, Jesus and His apostles met for the Passover supper. Jesus noticed that one of His apostles, Judas, sat silently as if he had something to hide. Judas did indeed have a big secret. He had collected money from the rulers of Jerusalem in order to lead them to Jesus.

At the door of the room, there was a bowl of water with a towel. Jesus took the bowl of water with the towel and washed His apostles’ feet and said to them, “If I, your Lord, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash each other’s feet”. During the supper, Jesus said, “truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me to My enemies”, and He turned to Judas as He said this. Judas understood that Jesus knew that he was the betrayer, so he got up and ran out of the room.

Good Friday
On Friday morning, Jesus was brought before the Roman governor of Jerusalem for trial. The priests were accusing Jesus of lying. “He is telling lies to many people throughout Judea”, said one man. “He claims to be the Son of God and calls himself the Messiah” said another. Jesus remained silent and did not answer to these accusations. The governor asked Jesus in private, “Are you the King of the Jews?”. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were of this world, then would My servants fight for Me”. Jesus continues, “I am a king, and all who know the truth, know that my words are true”. The governor did not know the truth but he knew that Jesus was not an ordinary man and could not sentence him to death, but the wicked priests of Jerusalem insisted the Jesus be crucified.

Outside the walls of Jerusalem, there was a hill called Calvary. There were three dark crosses on the hill. On two of them were thieves who were punished for bad things they did. Jesus Christ was put on the cross in the center with nails through His hands and feet.
Jesus’ mother Mary and His disciple John stood beside His cross comforting each other. A group of Jews close by said to Jesus, ‘If you are truly the Son of God, then come down from the cross”. Then they went away saying, “He saved others but He cannot save Himself”. Shortly after, the sky was filled with clouds and Jerusalem became dark. The darkness lasted for many hours. At that moment, all the evil in the world gathered around Jesus Christ, but the power of evil could not break the strong spirit of the mighty Son of God. The spirit of Jesus left His body and went up to the heavens.

The body of Jesus, wrapped in a white shroud, was carried into a cave where it was to be buried. The Roman governor, advised by the priests, ordered that the tomb of Jesus be guarded by soldiers. The priests told the governor, “The tomb must be watched, so that his disciples cannot steal him away and say that he is risen from the dead”.
Jesus’ apostles were very sad and miserable, for their beloved teacher and master was no longer with them.

Easter Sunday

Early on Sunday morning, Mary Magdalen, along with other women, went to visit the tomb of Jesus. To their surprise, the soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the tomb were not there. They were even more surprised and afraid because the tomb was opened and the body of Jesus disappeared. Mary Magdalen went inside the cave while she was crying. She saw two angels inside. “Why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord” she answered. And then another voice behind her said to her, “Mary, why do you cry?”.
She turned around and realized that it was Jesus standing behind her. She could not believe her eyes. She went and told the apostles, “I have seen the Lord!”. The apostles could not believe it either that Jesus was alive. The great news was too good to be true. As the apostles were gathered together speaking about all of this, Jesus appeared among them and said “Peace be unto you”. As soon as they saw Him, the apostles knew that it was Jesus Himself, their beloved teacher. This was the happiest moment in their life.

Forty days after Easter Sunday, Jesus and His apostles went to the Mount of Olives. He told them, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And remember that I am always with you”. As Jesus said this, He raised His hand and blessed His apostles. Then He went up to His father in the heavens. The apostles were not sad when Jesus left them, because they remembered His words, “I am always with you”, and they knew that it was true.