I registered this domain name, together with www.jesusfortoday.com back in 1999. As part of the preparation for a Passion Play we were putting on in Cheltenham to celebrate the Millennium, I created a website. It went live in Holy Week 2000. On Good Friday from mid day until 3-00 we shared the first four Acts of our play as we told the story of Jesus on the streets of our town. We returned at 8-00 on Easter Sunday morning to share Act 5, Resurrection! More than a 1000 had joined us as we marked the crucifixion on Good Friday, and 500 returned for our celebration of Easter. It was most moving.
Two film crews turned up uninvited. One made themselves known. The next year, therefore, our Passion Play featured on Britain's second longest religious TV programme (the longest is Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol, a Welsh programme which had initiated the format of hymn-singing and story-telling). We had Simon Hammond, who had filmed our play, for six weeks in Lent 2001, and in Holy Week showed the video he had made for the first time.
The Web Site had originally provided an online version of the programme and links to other Christian resources. I adapted it so that it would go with the video itself.
Below are the notes that have accompanied the video for quite some time.
2000 years ago Jesus took the love of God on to the streets. He taught, he healed, and he made a remarkable difference in the lives of many people. From Galilee to Jerusalem he brought people face to face with the power of God to transform their lives. He invited people to follow him. People discovered a new kind of friendship which broke down barriers of race, gender, politics and creed; what’s more, they entered into a remarkable friendship with God.
Yet Jesus came into conflict with the authorities. He was betrayed by a friend, arrested, tried, and executed. His friends were shattered. It seemed as if everything had come to an end ... in reality it was only just beginning. On the third day Jesus joined them once more, he called them by name, and made his presence felt among them. They knew he was alive! He had a task for them to do.
The Cheltenham Passion Play
For the last 2000 years the followers of Jesus have carried out that task. They have taken the love of God on to the streets. For Easter 2000 the churches of Cheltenham took the story of Jesus on to the streets of their town. The following year they worked together to publish a set of three videos of the Passion Play. They are now available on YouTube.
Jesus for Today is an hour's TV programme that tells the story of the Cheltenham Passion Play, the people who took part, the people who watched and the impact the story of Jesus continues to have on many people's lives. It can be found on the YouTube TV channel by searching for Easter Passion Play Cheltenham - Jesus for Today.
Jesus forever the same is a collection of five prayer meditations created by those who took part on the five themes of the Passion Play: Friendship, Conflict, Betrayal, Death, Resurrection. It can be found on the YouTube TV channel by searching for Easter Passion Play Prayer - Jesus for Tomorrow.
On the web site, Jesus for Today, the whole of the programme is broken down into short video clips that together tell the story of Jesus.
There's lots of material to help you find out more about Jesus and the difference he makes. There are resources for individuals, churches and schools to use.