It was Easter Sunday at lunch time, and all the family were gathered around the dinner table. Mum had made everyone’s favourite meal of roast lamb with peas, potatoes and carrots, and they were sitting around talking, letting the first course settle down before the pudding came.

   Uncle Jeff was there too as he often was, and he said, “Well Bobby, what did the preacher tell us about in church this morning?”

“I know,” said Betty without waiting to see what Bobby said, “It was about Jesus dying on the cross.”

“Very good, it was too,” said Uncle Jeff, “What else can you remember?”

“He used some big words all starting with the letter ‘v’ ” Bobby said, “One word was violent, and he said that meant that Jesus had some horrid things done to Him before He was put on the cross.”

“That’s right”, Uncle Jeff said, “What were some of those violent things that were done to Him?”

“He was whipped”, Bobby said.

“He had a crown of thorns with long spikes on it jammed onto His head”, said Sarah, “and the blood all ran down His face.”

“Yes, that’s right. What was another ‘v’ word then?” asked Uncle Jeff.

“He said it was a vicious death”, said Sarah, “and that means that they were really trying to hurt Him a lot.”

“They hated Him,” piped up Betty.

“They did too”, said Dad who was listening to all this, “They were really vindictive the way they treated Him. That means that they were trying to be as mean to Him as they could be because they hadn’t liked what He was saying about being God’s special Sent One.”

“Just like Emma was mean to me,” Betty said, “when she hit me the other day for nothing!”

“What was another ‘v’ word?” Uncle Jeff asked, “Those are three ‘v’ words about how the people were treating the Lord Jesus. What was another word that shows us how He felt?”

There was silence for a moment while everyone stopped to think.

“I know,” said Sarah, “It was voluntary. That means that He did it because He wanted to help people.”

“Oooh,” said Betty, “How could Him being hurt so badly help people?”

“It was something to do with Him paying for our sins wasn’t it?” asked Sarah.

“Yes,” said Uncle Jeff, “That was part of it. He did it because He wanted to, no-one was making Him do it.”

“I remember another word,” Bobby said, “He said it was valid for today. What exactly does that mean?”

“That means that what He did all those years ago on the cross still counts for today,” Uncle Jeff said.

“I remember another one,” Betty said, “He said it was val…valable. What does that mean?”

“You mean valuable,” Sarah said, “That means that it was worth a lot then and even  for us today.”

“Yes, that’s right”, said Dad, “We wouldn’t be able to pray to God at all if Jesus hadn’t died on the cross for us.”

“I’m so glad He did,” said Betty with a sigh, “I like praying to God when things go wrong. It just seems to make things better straight away.”

“Well, are you all ready for your pudding?” Mum called out from the kitchen, “Sarah, come and help carry it in! I’m so glad you were all listening so well to the sermon this morning! The main thing now is to remember it!”