I wonder if you have ever found out something surprising and unexpected about someone that you thought you knew really well? Maybe you have an aunt who unknown to you was once a downhill skier in a winter olympics. Or perhaps you have second cousin who behind their mild mannered exterior, is actually an operative for MI5. 

Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation – supposedly inspired by having an apple drop on his head. He built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a theory of colour from observing the decomposition of white light through a prism. There are also stories that among his huge scientific achievements and contributions to our understanding of our world, Newton played a significant part in the homes of thousands and thousands of people. He invented the cat flap. 

The story goes that Newton spent many hours on his light experiments, only to have them ruined when his pet cat nudged the door to his lab open. Newton loved his cat and didn’t want to shut her out so his solution was to cut a hole in the door. He attached a of piece of felt at the top which hung down over the hole so as little light possible would get through. 

There are all sorts of things that we can say about Jesus that aren’t that surprising. Even in this post-Christian era, the accounts of his life are fairly well know. Born in Bethlehem. Lived in Galilee. He was firstly a carpenter, then a travelling preacher and teacher. His words of comfort and strength for the poor and the dispossessed upset the religious leaders of his day who had him killed for his trouble. His death on a cross has left it’s mark on our world and his life has inspired millions of people in the years since his feet walked upon the earth. 

The shocking thing is that for these same millions, his death wasn’t a disappointing finish. A downbeat note that closes an upbeat song. We believe that his death was not the end as this man Jesus was and is the Son of God, and three days after he died, he was seen alive by many hundreds of different people. 

This is the unexpected Easter story. That life that is eternal is not only possible, but a wonderful promise made by a risen Jesus to all that love and follow him. 

(April 2015)