
November 20th is St Edmunds Day. Whilst the story of King Edmund has been complicated down the centuries by legend and religion, one thing seems fairly certain. We have as our town's namesake, a man of remarkable faith.
What kind of faith is it, that galvanises a man to stand calm, whilst being shot at with arrows? Surely, this kind of faith must be anchored in something higher, something greater, than oneself? For Edmund, the something higher was not just a thing, or a ‘belief’, but a person - none other than Jesus Christ.
What kind of faith is it, that galvanises a man to stand calm, whilst being shot at with arrows? Surely, this kind of faith must be anchored in something higher, something greater, than oneself? For Edmund, the something higher was not just a thing, or a ‘belief’, but a person - none other than Jesus Christ.
" What kind of faith is it, that galvanises a man to stand calm,
whilst being shot at with arrows?
Perhaps then, after we have got past the obvious and well deserved fascination with the man himself—the real story about King Edmund, is about the one who he was willing to die for—his God and Saviour? Yet for many the fascination stops there. They have no time for Christ. How so?
Was Christ not also a just man? The Just man? Did Christ not also give His Life? And is not the reality of His Resurrection a wonderful story? It is not perhaps the story which is a problem but the fact that these things highlight our own failure as sinful men. For Christ, says Romans 4:25, was, “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”. So we see that Christ didn’t die the death of a heroic martyr. He voluntarily laid his life down because of the sin of mankind. This is very often something that men and women want to avoid considering.
"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'
Romans 10 v 9
Yet, if we were only to recognise our sin and Christ as our Saviour then God is ‘just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.’ In other words, He can declare us guiltless, He can make us -right. Because Christ has already bore sins punishment.
And, ‘if you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'
So, we can surely be proud of our town’s history as one that is characterised by faith. It’s a powerful story which begs us look beyond the martyr and look to his God and Saviour. It's a story which begs the question, do I know my sins forgiven? Do I own Christ as my Saviour and Lord?
And, ‘if you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'
So, we can surely be proud of our town’s history as one that is characterised by faith. It’s a powerful story which begs us look beyond the martyr and look to his God and Saviour. It's a story which begs the question, do I know my sins forgiven? Do I own Christ as my Saviour and Lord?
