"Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger," Lamentations 1:12.

(A gospel message preached in Kilskeery Free Presbyterian Church by the then minister, Rev Ivan Foster, on Lord's Day evening, 17th January 1999)

What a mountain of triviality occupies the interest of mankind! This is never more obvious than at 'Easter' time! Bunnies and chocolate eggs take precedence over the glorious events of the Saviour's sufferings, death and resurrection.

There are those in the scientific world who are renowned for their knowledge of bugs and beetles, lice and leeches. Some men ceaselessly gaze at the stars in order to catch a glimpse of some unbeknown lump of matter. The activities of bats and birds, of the antelope and the ant, of the leopard and the lizard have all been studied at length by men consumed with an interest in such things.

But no man has a desire of himself to examine the sufferings of Christ on the cross. When an invitation is given to consider Calvary, all with one consent begin to make excuse.

The account of Christ on the cross is one that ought to interest men. It contains all that in which men have shown an interest in a different setting. Suffering, injustice, miraculous events -- these are the matters that excite man's interest.

But not in the case of the Saviour's death. Indeed, man is the only part of creation that does not react to the cross. Sun, earth, angels all manifested a reaction but not man. He mockingly walked past unmoved.