Saturday 1 April 2023

Slaying the Dragon

April 2023

Dear Friends,

The George Cross is presented for "acts of  the greatest heroism and bravery in circumstances of extreme danger".  It is named after its creator, King George VI, but another George, St George, is pictured on the solid silver medal.  He is riding a horse and, with his lance, attacking the dragon that (according to legend) was about to feast itself on a local princess.  The willingness of the warrior George to risk his life to save her is celebrated around the world.

The George Cross is cast in a shape known everywhere as the symbol of another act of self-sacrificial bravery – a cross.  St George rides a horse and carries a spear.  Jesus’ biographers say that he entered Jerusalem riding a donkey and knowing that he himself would be pierced and speared, not in defeat but to win a far greater victory, not the rescue of a princess and her village, but the rescue of many princesses, villagers and countless others around the world who learn to trust him.  On the cross Jesus crushed a fiery dragon far more terrible than any in the storybooks (see Revelation 12:9).

In 1929 WW1 hero Brigadier William Dobbie was stationed in Palestine and given an office overlooking the hill where Jesus was said to have been crucified.  When copies of the New Testament were delivered for distribution to his troops he had this note inserted into each book: “You are stationed at the place where the central event in human history occurred – namely the crucifixion of the Son of God. You may see the place where this happened and you may read the details in this book. As you do this, you cannot help being interested, but your interest will change into something far deeper when you realise the events concern you personally.”

What did he mean?  That if they would read their New Testaments, under God’s guidance, they would see that Jesus died on the cross to rescue each of them from a fate worse than that faced by St George’s princess.  Many others have come to the same life-changing conclusion by reading the same book.  Why not seek out a Gospel to read this Easter?

Happy Easter, and Happy St George’s Day too,

Sincerely

Graham Burrows