The Superintendent’s Letter

Dear friends,

There are a staggering number of sporting events which are played for a cup. There is the:

Ryder Cup, Walker Cup, America’s Cup, Gold Cup, Heineken Cup and various world cups to name but a few. I love a good sporting contest and the rugby and cricket world cups were essential viewing in our household through the autumn. To win a world cup is the pinnacle of sporting achievement and athletes train all their lives to hold that special cup in their hands. Cups have always been associated with victory. When Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the final time, James and John (two of his disciples) approached him with a special request. They wanted to sit one at his right and one at his left when he came into power.

Jesus responded to their request by asking if they really wanted to drink from the same cup as him. Thinking he meant the victory cup, they responded with an emphatic “Yes”.

However, Jesus also had another cup in mind. In Jesus thought,“ the cup” was associated with suffering as well as victory. Jesus knew that he must suffer before the victory was won and so must his friends. And this is what happened in the last part of his life. As he entered Jerusalem he stepped into a maelstrom of confrontation and pain which led inexorably to his crucifixion. He prayed to his Father at one point to, “take this cup away”. We remember these events in Holy Week. As we hear the story afresh and share together in bread and wine, we taste a little of that cup of suffering ourselves. We perhaps begin to realise that being a follower of Jesus leads us down some costly paths where difficult choices have to be made and where lives are touched by pain. We begin to understand that a cross lies at the heart of Christian faith.

But that is not the end of the story, because on Easter Sunday comes the news of Resurrection. On this day the cup of suffering turns into the cup of victory. The early Christians rightly saw the Resurrection as a victory and as a vindication of Jesus and all he stood for. They saw self giving love have the last word. They realised that human sin and evil had done its worst and Christ had defeated it. They knew that where Christ led, they would follow.

So in many ways, Easter is a story of two cups. In order to understand Easter, and indeed, to understand what Christian faith is all about, we need to have both cups clearly in view. Why not come to our Holy Week and Easter day services, hear the story of Jesus afresh and marvel with us at the greatest love the world has ever known.

May I wish you all a joyful Easter,

Revd. David Godfrey

An introductory booklet