Leo van Doesburg

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind,   a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain   and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53: 3,4)   At Easter, Christians all over the world are celebrating the core of their faith: the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus as atonement for our sins and His Resurrection from His death. For me, Easter represents a time of reflection on the events that unfolded that weekend about 2000 years ago, the weekend that has changed the world. Based on the roots of Judaism, Christians believes th...

He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53: 4-5) Dear Friends,     Easter is always a special time of reflection when we are remembering that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross to save us from our bad deeds and thoughts, from our sin. It is there on the Cross that God’s Love for us surpassed His justice, in that God gave “ His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him ” (John 3:16,17).   We are also asked to act based on justice and love. As followers of Jesus we should strive for justice and not compromise ourselves, even when we will...

Your Excellencies,  Your Eminences,  Distinguished participants,  Dear friends , It is wonderful to see how we all, from different backgrounds and in different languages, are praying the Lord’s Prayer together:  the prayer that unites all Christians from all different denominations and from all different countries and cultures all over the world. It is thus not a coincidence that the prayer starts with the expression “Our Father”. However, the word “our” is at first surprising, as I would expect the Lord’s prayer to start with the expression “ My Father”, since I am used to pray for my health, my work etc.  Nevertheless, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught us to pray using the words “give US our daily bread”, “lead US not into temptation” and so on. I think this has to do with the fact that Jesus wanted to teach us to look not only to the Father, but also to those around us!