22 November

Today's the day when in 1963 President John F Kennedy was assassinated by a gunman in Dallas, Texas. The presidential motorcade was traveling from Dallas airport to the city centre when shots were fired from the window of a building overlooking the road. The President collapsed into the arms of Jackie Kennedy. Seconds later Texas Governor John Connally who was travelling with the Kennedys was shot in the back and seriously injured. Shortly afterwards Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the murder of the President but he himself was shot two days later and was never brought to trial.

Millions of people still remember where they were when they heard the news that JFK had been shot. It's one of the defining moments of modern history and an event that made a lasting impression on a whole generation. It seems strange that so many people can share in such a vivid memory of one man's death. Yet at the very heart of Christianity is the death of one man, Jesus Christ, which was not just a defining moment for one generation but for every generation. This is how the once-for-all death of Jesus, our great High priest, is described in Hebrews chapter 7:

Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.