Thought for the Week 5 April 2026

Moderator’s Easter message 2026 (redacted for space)

Once, I thought humans were basically good and ethically responsible all the time. Some still put the case that human evolution and development will lead us into a new era of enlightenment when that will be true. That view was demolished once and for all for me by a philosophy lecturer who took our class on a journey exploring the questions, “Could the Nazi regime, or similar, happen in New Zealand under the right circumstances?” “Could any one of us be a war criminal and kill innocent people while looking them in the eye?” Our class of about 20 students ended up saying yes to both propositions, and it silenced all of us because of what it meant. That experience was part of my understanding the why of the Easter story. In Jeremiah 17:9 the prophet concludes: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” God knows.

I think of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday in terms of being the pinnacle story of the Incarnation. Why was Jesus born of the Virgin Mary as the Son of God, fully human and fully divine? God’s fulfilment of the Old Testament hope of the coming Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom of God to bring true justice and peace for the people of Israel and all who believe in him from the gentile world. And now that the death and resurrection of Christ is an historical event to contemplate, those of us who do believe are looking forward to the Kingdom of God being fulfilled on earth. At this time, that seems as far away for us as it did for Jeremiah. How long, O Lord, until you return to put all things right?

An analogy of what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means for me as I journey on. As the story goes, the composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and George Handel had a conversation after attending worship in heaven, Revelation 4 style. The singing of the angelic host was something both had never imagined possible. They were overwhelmed and forever changed. Both composers were famous for their contribution to Christian music on earth. Handle’s “Messiah” with the famous and moving Hallelujah Chorus. Tchaikovsky’s the “Liturgy of St John Chrysostom” with the famous and moving Hymn of the Cherubim. Two different cultures, two languages, two Christian traditions echoing each other in proclaiming the glory of God. Handel asked Tchaikovsky what inspired him to compose the Hymn of the Cherubim. The answer came. “I wanted blind people to see the dawn”.

I know in my knower that I have seen the dawn in the death and resurrection of Christ, through the testimony of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I look forward to the increasing brightness of the new day when I meet my Saviour and Lord in New Heaven and Earth.

Right Rev Peter Dunn 

Moderator Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand