Easter Message

Easter message

I wonder how many of you have read “A Tale of Two Cities”, the novel by Charles Dickens published in 1859. I seem to remember studying this during my O level classes in English Literature many moons ago.

The story is set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution. Two of the characters in the book Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton are remarkably similar in appearance.

Charles Darnay is a young French aristocrat who is married to Lucie Manette and towards the end of the book he is in prison awaiting execution at the guillotine. Sydney Carton, who is secretly in love with Lucie visits Charles Darnay in prison on the eve of his execution. Sydney Carton hatches a plot whereby he changes clothes with Charles Darnay, Charles and Lucie then escape to England and Sydney gets executed instead of Charles. On his way to the guillotine Sydney Carton utters these now famous words:

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

In his letter to the Romans, St Paul writes:

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This is the central message of the Christian faith that we celebrate at Easter time. Our loving God being willing to send his only Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth so he could lay down his life for each one of us.