The city of Jerusalem has for thousands of years been surrounded by high walls and within those walls are gateways. They are the meeting places at the end of long journeys of pilgrimage, the hourglass constriction through which the world enters that holy city. Three weeks ago, I was in Jerusalem and walked through the Damascus Gate as the city prepared for the Jewish sabbath and Muslim Eid. It was busy and chaotic. The hubbub of a bustling city filled the air.
Earlier this week, on Palm Sunday, Christians marked the time when Jesus entered that busy city with crowds shouting words of joy and jubilation. As the days progressed during that first Holy Week, the mood changed and soon the crowds were baying for his blood. Yesterday, Good Friday, we marked the long agony of Jesus on the cross set up outside the city wall for all to see and jeer at. Everything is left hollowed out and raw, empty and silent. Stillness rules the rock-hewn tomb.
That, though, is not the end of the story. Tomorrow, churches across Norfolk will be filled with flowers and music, colour and joy. And you are particularly invited, even if you have never been before – just visit www.achurchnearyou.com to find the time of your local Easter service. You might even find an early dawn service where the Easter fire is lit when the sun rises tomorrow and people sing that glorious Easter hymn, “Jesus Christ is risen today – Alleluia”.
Easter, the central celebration of the Christian faith, proclaims a powerful truth: love is stronger than death, and hope rises from the grave. It marks the Resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion, symbolizing not just a return to
life, but the beginning of a new creation. In the landscape of Christian theology, Easter is the ultimate statement that brokenness is not the final word.
Sadly, we see brokenness in many places in what should be the Holy Land. We see it in the destruction of Gaza, in the pain etched in the faces of both Palestinians and Israelis who mourn, in the shaking hands of a Palestinian farmer whose land has been confiscated to build an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and in the fear of a Jewish mother clutching her children tightly around her.
Further out from Jerusalem’s city walls is another wall, the partition wall of concrete, razor wire and electric fences snaking 400 miles around and into the West Bank. It divides Palestinians and Israelis. It cuts through Palestinian olive groves, restricts movement and cuts off communities from their neighbours. To some, it represents security and protection; to others, it is a daily symbol of separation, oppression, and lost hope. It is ultimately a symbol of brokenness.
Jesus’ Resurrection breaks open the metaphorical walls of death, despair, and sin. Easter is not confined within walls; it spills beyond them, into the world, declaring that no tomb, no barrier, no wall can hold back the life God offers.
The Resurrection is not only about a man rising from the dead; it is God’s bold proclamation that peace is possible, even in the midst of violence, and that reconciliation is the path forward, even through centuries of conflict.
Easter asks us many questions: What walls have we built in our hearts, our communities, and our nations? How can we build bridges instead of barriers? And how do we, like the disciples, move from despair to promise, fear to proclamation, from hiding to hope?
In the end, Easter is a promise, a proclamation and a hope. It promises a new way forward. It proclaims that walls do not have the final word—God does. And its hope are the words on the lips of the risen Jesus, “peace be with you”.
Some of the Easter Sunday sunrise services across Norfolk
St Andrew’s Deopham, near Wymondham, has an Easter celebration service as the sun rises, 5-6am.
St Edmund’s, Taverham Road, Taverham, holds an Easter service from 5.30am as the sun rises.
St Mary’s, Fishley, near Acle (off the South Walsham Road) celebrates Easter with a sunrise service from 5.30am.
A sunrise service with Easter fire at 6am by the ruins of All Saints church, Little Ryburgh, near Fakenham, is followed by breakfast at St Andrew’s, Great Ryburgh.
Sprowston parish churches hold an Easter service looking over Norwich on the Britannia Road carpark at 6am.
The South Creake service of light 6-7am, is followed by breakfast at the parish church of Our Lady Saint Mary.
Meet at St Edmund’s Church, Caistor St Edmund, at 6am for a dawn Easter service in the neighbouring Roman town site. Followed by hot drinks and bacon rolls in church.
St Peter’s, Norwich Road, Corpusty, has an Easter Sunday sunrise service from 6am.
Picture credits: Jonny Gios/Unsplash/Shutterstock
