April 2023
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
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