Near the main entrance of Westminster Abbey lies The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. Brought from the battlefield of the Western Front and buried ‘amongst the kings’ this unknown soldier represents the countless thousands who gave their lives in the First World War. His body was laid to rest on 11th November 1920 in the presence of the Royal Family, and ministers of state. Also in attendance were over one hundred women, chosen because they had lost their husbands and all their sons in the war. The grief they felt was particularly acute.
Some two thousand years earlier another mother had stood grief-stricken as she watched her son give up his life to secure the freedom of others. It is his words, recorded in John’s Gospel, that are inscribed around the tomb in the Abbey, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’.
As we remember the millions who died to secure our freedom in this life, may we not forget to remember Jesus, who inspired their acts of self-sacrifice and through his own secured our freedom for eternity.
