Colossians 2:13,14 “…you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

I took this photo on my iPhone the other day, just passing the Albert Pub in Didsbury and noticed how they’d put up a warning sign to deter parkers, on a cross.

Ever been clamped? I got my car clamped once – and I could tell the guys who did it just loved their job! Grrr… it was so frustrating to be stuck like that, subject to punishment. Not able to go where I wanted. Captive! I didn’t have the money to pay them and contested it vigorously because (unlike this one) the sign wasn’t clear or even visible from where I parked.

Finally, a friend agreed to pay half and then I paid the vultures who held my car, and was free!

I was so struck by how this pub has put their notice on a cross like this.

Jesus’ final shout of triumph from the cross on Good Friday was ‘It is finished!’ which we could translate as ‘paid in full!’ That’s what this friend did so we could be free – not stuck. He paid the penalty though he’d done nothing wrong – and it’s not paid with money but the most precious substance in the universe, his own blood.

The good news of Easter is you don’t have to be stuck anymore. He who the Son sets free, is free indeed!