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Nearly 2,000 years ago, there was a dreadful calamity. An exemplary man, who had done and spoken only good things during his life, was tried in a kangaroo-court kind of way. He was then condemned to death on the basis of what we today would deem popularism, playing to the crowd.  Of course, there have been thousands, even millions, of unjust deaths over the centuries. And these things are happening now.  Witness, for instance, the fate of Russian journalists and others who speak out about the horrors of Ukraine and finish up falling out of windows.

But this was different.  There had never been another man like Jesus.  His friends and disciples knew this.  They had read the Jewish scriptures, and they realised that at last the prophecies had been fulfilled.  They had found in Jesus the one, the only one, who fulfilled their longings, who – we would say today – ticked all the boxes.  Their respect for him was beyond describing. They had detected his wholehearted love for them, and for the whole of humanity. Albeit, it was a challenging love that expected their love for God in return, and love for each other and for everyone they encountered. And, in the best sense of the word, they had come to love Jesus.

So, when Jesus was so unjustly cruelly executed, his friends were disappointed that it had all come to nothing.  Their hero, who was to change the world, had gone.  Not just disappointed: they were devastated, heartbroken. It was almost as if their lives too had been shattered and come to an end, their life as they had come to know it had been taken from them, and they wanted it back.

Recently, a van overtook us on a motorway, sign-written as usual with the company’s name and trade.  But on the side of this van was painted: ‘Restoration Solutions. Giving you your life back.’ What was the trade, we wondered?   Was it house restoration, or furniture restoration, or even antidotes to pensioners’ physical dilapidation?  I have no idea. But it seemed to me a good Easter slogan: ‘Restoration Solutions. Giving you your life back’.

In the case of Jesus’s friends, that is exactly what happened. They were given their life back. Their life did come back, albeit of a different kind. And the trigger for this was a kind of restoration solution. There was an empty tomb.  There’s little doubt about that: the tomb was empty and even the Jewish priests accepted that.  We know this because, in St Matthew’s account, they went to the trouble of bribing the soldiers to say that Jesus’s disciples had spirited the body away during the night.

Apart from the tomb being empty, one other thing is quite clear.  The disciples had unexpected and vivid awareness of Jesus being with them on particular occasions. Mary Magdalene and another Mary encountered his presence at the tomb.  Two disciples became aware of his presence that evening when they were walking in the country and stopped at an inn. He was present when all the close band of disciples had gathered in Jerusalem. And they encountered his presence at the lakeside when they resumed fishing.

But, do you know something?  As far as we know, there was only one occasion when Jesus appeared to a single person alone, and that was to Mary Magdalene when she was alone at the empty tomb and mistook him for a gardener.  Apart from that, Jesus’s presence was always felt when there was a group of disciples together, or at least a pair of them.  It was  usually a corporate experience, not a solitary affair.  Some people do have religious experiences when they’re on their own – very real, vivid and helpful experiences. But, I suspect for many of us, our most helpful experiences are when we are together.  That’s what the Church is about: the community of believers and seekers after truth, who are aware that Jesus is on our side, alongside us and in our midst.

Above all, this is at the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, when Jesus’s Last Supper is re-enacted, when the Lord becomes spiritually present in the company of believers and in the bread and the wine.  When Jesus said ‘This is my body’ and gave them the bread, he was incorporating the Christian community as his body on earth. If we were to read on from this afternoon’s reading from St Luke’s Gospel, we would find the story of the two disciples walking out into the country, talking with a mysterious stranger about the devastating events that had hit them, and then realising who it was when he sat down with them at the inn, took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  Was this the Church’s first Eucharistic meal after the Last Supper? It certainly entailed an acute awareness that Jesus was with them again, and for always.  And then, according to St John’s Gospel, the disciples who returned to their fishing became aware of Jesus’s presence as he took bread and gave it to them, along with some fish.

If ever stories assure Christian people that Jesus is with them, these do the job.  He is with the Church in its Eucharists and worship. And he is with the Church when its members disperse for their daily work and activities.

So here again is my Easter slogan from the back of a van: ‘Restoration Solutions. Giving you your life back’.  Restoration of Jesus indeed, not as he was, but as spiritually present. And the disciples being given their life back. And we too, with the opportunity and potential for life of a new kind, life with the Spirit of God within us.

There’s another thing I’m sure of.  The van driver and his company would be mighty surprised if they knew they were being quoted in this Cathedral on Easter Day.  But I hope they might be pleased. Van driver, if you happen to be watching, thank you, and happy Easter.  And happy Easter to you all, too.