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"Come, let us kill him" (Matthew 21:38). This is the human story of Christ's crucifixion. He was "put to death by wicked men." There is also the divine story - "the deliberate plan and foreknowledge of God"(Acts 2:23). The wicked men thought that this was the end of Jesus. They were wrong! - "God raised Him from the dead." Could it have been any other way? Could the evil scheming of men have prevailed over God's plan of salvation? - No! "I t was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him" (Acts 2:24).

We rejoice in Christ's resuurection, but we do not rush on to His resurrection without turning our thoughts to His crucifixion. His resurrection has no meaning without His crucifixion. Before there could be His resurrection, there needed to be His crucifixion. Before He could be raised from death to life, He needed to die. He died for us - then, He was raised for us. In His suffering for our sins, He prayed, "My God, my God, why have You fosaken Me?" As we learn to appreciate the wonder of what He has done for us in His death, our joy will increase, when we hear the words, "He has risen."

 * Our Question: “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job)  * God's Answer: "He (Jesus) is risen."

The Strangeness of God: Essays in Contemporary Theology Elizabeth Templeton Arthur James Limited, London, 1993; 173pp., £ 7.99; ISBN 0 85305 296 4 Templeton describes this book as 'fragments of thinking done over some fifteen years ... mostly since I stopped being "an academic"'. This latter phrase, perhaps, explains her description of this material as 'unacademic theology'. Certainly, these articles are likely to prove very difficult reading for those who are not academics! The Bishop of Durham, who would presumably classify himself as an academic, appears to have  found this book heavy going. His Foreword urges perseverance in reading this book, especially where the reader does not 'at first, make much sense of it'. In the Foreword, we read that  this book 'lies very much  within Christian Faith, taken for granted and pursued'. Some readers may wonder whether this begs the question: Can we take it for granted that this book gives us