The Most Rev Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church delivers his Easter message:

“The Day of resurrection! Earth tell it out abroad!”

This great hymn of Easter joy will rise in many of our congregations today. Voices will ring out with Alleluia, and Christians across the land will greet each other with the ancient acclamation: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

All will seem well in the world. Yet we know that it isn’t. This Easter Day nations will still be at war, some will be hungry, many will be in pain.

The Easter message is not that we have been given an escape from the world’s suffering, but instead we have been given freedom from the fear of death. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been given the gift of eternal life. In that gift is courage, and in that gift is hope.

From the moment of the discovery of the empty tomb, the everyday difficulties of life continued much as they had for thousands of years, and as they would continue for thousands more: persecution, hatred and greed.

But those who had followed Jesus and who would go on to learn about him and receive him through the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost also knew what they had to do: Yes – give thanks and offer praise, but also to have courage to love our enemies and turn the other check, and to offer hope to the hopeless and joy to the downhearted.

Easter is about giving thanks that he is indeed risen, but it is also a call to care for the world, not freed from its difficulties, but freed from the fear of death.

Go out with joy into the world for Christ is risen. Go out to share the love of God and reveal our risen saviour by the way you follow his commands.