Reading my Bible

It was when they finally came to crucify Jesus that I became really upset about what was happening to Him.

The events of his life that I had read up to this point had become so real to me, his life so amazing. The first three gospels gave such a vivid account of his life - the feeding of the five thousand, the miracles and the strange and mysterious events of his birth and his life - that I was gripped by the impact this man was having on those around him. But it was the Gospel of John, a powerfully intimate account, written by a man who clearly loved Jesus and who had spent a lot of time close to him that brought me close into the presence of the man Jesus Christ. The simple way John gives his account, with profound insights into Jesus and what it was like to actually be in the same room as him, is nothing short of breathtaking. The story is so personal and so engaging that I felt I could almost reach out and touch Jesus.

And now here they were, crucifying him. As the full drama of this tragedy unfolded, I could see, in my mind's eye, a man with nails through his hands and feet, hanging from a cross in mind-numbing pain, as the crowd stood nearby.

The Bible I was reading was a Good News Bible, which I had bought in WH Smith's a few weeks after I had started attending church. As a reporter on a local newspaper, I had been working on a story at a support centre for people who were unemployed and I was asked if I wanted to attend a local church the following Sunday. Although I immediately said 'no', the offer was made again and, believing that journalists should not be closed to any experience, I accepted.

Reading the accounts of the life of Jesus in the gospels for the first time was like reading newspaper reports of the life of Christ; I read them as I would a piece of copy from a correspondent out on the story. Matthew was the historical background piece, Mark the tabloid headlines and the action and adventure and Luke the feature-length article, full of detail and explanation. The Gospel of John, however, was an 'up close and personal' interview, told for much of the time through the words of Jesus himself.

As well as reading my Good News Bible (the best selling version of the Bible in the world today, with 23 million sold, according to the Evangelical Alliance website), I was also attending church, a lively and growing charismatic Baptist church, which met in a school hall.