Tomorrow is Palm Sunday.

Christians will celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the week before his betrayal and death. It marks the beginning of Holy Week, which includes Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion and Easter Sunday, the day of the resurrection. Nowadays there is some real doubt about what people know about Easter and what they make of it. So I asked some friends of mine what they thought. My friend Denis said that for him Easter is the most significant event in history. Jesus was the Son of God in human form, who deliberately allowed himself to be captured and crucified on the day we now call Good Friday. The Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem was an act of immense courage, as Jesus knew full well what awaited him. Easter, said Denis, is an integral part of Gods plan to save us through the death of Jesus. God gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Easter is a reminder to Denis that Jesus Christ the Saviour is no longer dead but alive. The evidence for his resurrection is overwhelming, he says. Holy Week and the glory of Easter Day give us all hope and confidence, not least the fact that Jesus has promised He will come again for all who believe in him. Denis will be going to church tomorrow. My friend Fred said well of course its not like an actual anniversary or anything. Its a story with probably a lot of truth about it since it appears in all the gospels of the Bible, written by a number of different people quite close to the events in question. Certainly there was a triumphal entry into Jerusalem and a heros welcome for the man on the donkey. Certainly also there was a backlash, a betrayal, a trial and an execution. As for the resurrection, thats where I blank out, he said. Thats all I know about what really happened, said Fred. But I think it all became legend and the man became elevated to more than an ordinary martyr. The church surrounded it with myth and ritual and made it an article of faith that something unique had occurred. The church grafted celebrations on to older pagan rituals of springtime. Thats where the eggs and bunnies come in. But, said Fred, theres no evidence that these events, remarkable as they were, were different in kind from many others down the ages. There have always been martyred holy men with their attendant believers. Fred will spend tomorrow on an outing with his family. My friend Jo said its a lovely time of the year, it gives hope of better things to come. Its the right time here in England to celebrate renewal and rebirth, to be optimistic about life. And I am sure people all over the world feel this joy in renewed life in their own ways, often in religious form. But, said Jo, I am not all over the world. I am here now, in Exeter in Spring, and Ive been brought up in a Christian tradition. I observe it not because I believe the Christian story is true and all the others false-that would be very arrogant-but because it is a mystery that speaks to my condition. I can somehow, sometimes enter into that mystery in silence or prayer. Im not particularly interested in arguments about the evidence for this or that, she said. Jo will be attending Quaker Meeting for Worship tomorrow. OK, my friends were not stopped in the High Street and asked for their views by someone with a clipboard. But they are people with something to say. What do you say? Michael Golby Quaker Chaplain Exeter University