On Saturday night I went to hear Bach’s The St John Passion at the Brighton Dome. I can’t think of a better way to start Holy Week than the awesome sound of a full on choir singing through the death of Jesus. We even got to sing a long at points, although in a slightly different way to say, a sing-a-long Sound of Music. I was moved to tears and broken again by the incredible story of Jesus going through all that agony, pain and suffering for you and me. It’s the most powerful story of all, one man healing forever the alienation of Creator and creatures. His death instead of mine. His blood, my life.

As we sung: “Thy Name is shining on me Lord Jesu, day and night; Thy cross alone hath won me my hearts delight; For now by faith depicted the saving truth I see, how thou most afflicted has shed thy blood for me.”

Possibly the best start to Easter.

(On a more frivolous note, one of the best sights of the evening was a man who clearly was overcome by the music conducting furiously to his hearts content from the balcony. It’s a strange crowd at these events)