An Easter NativitySýnishorn

I was there,
I was little more than a boy,
apprenticed to a scholar and healer, a wise man if you like.

A group of them had been studying the stars and the prophecies; they told us we were going on a journey and we would be away for some time. Melchior gave me a casket to carry, inside, he said, was a jar of myrrh. It would be a gift for a child. Odd gift, I thought, myrrh is used to preserve the dead. Why would a child want that? So we traveled, and we traveled! Then we arrived in Jerusalem before making our way to Bethlehem. It’s strange to be back in this city.

Melchior told me that the child was to be a great ruler, a king above all kings, but not only that, he would be a priest to the people, a healer, and that he would die to save them all, that’s what the myrrh was for.

And today, I witnessed it, I recognized his mother at the foot of the cross, older now, but unmistakable. She looked so broken but still so hopeful. I saw him die on the cross and the world went dark and silent, I wonder what happens now? How did he save us? How did he save me?

This monologue was originally used as part of a Good Friday Walk of Witness liturgy, use it and the scripture that inspired it to reflect on these two foundational events.

If someone asked you how Jesus saved you, what would you say in reply?

Spend some time in thanksgiving for the sacrifice of the cross.