Some of you will read this article in the Friday News and Happenings e-blast. It will be Good Friday, a day of solemn remembrance of Jesus’ death by crucifixion. It is a day on which we reflect on the extent of our sin, acknowledge that as human beings we not only willingly hurt each other but are even willing to put the flesh and blood Son of God on a cross. When we are given a choice to relent, still we cry out with those throughout history in one strong voice, “Crucify him!”
It is a day which hardly seems ‘good,’ yet it is holy because of Jesus’ willingness to be faithful to his purpose even as it threatened the status quo and empire and caused those around him to betray him, arrest him, deny him, and crucify him. We do these same things in large and small ways to God and neighbor still today when we are confronted with the truth. Ego and empire are powerful forces that sneak in and take the place of God and love in our lives. To appease our ego and the empire we live within we still find ways to justify war, violence, destruction of creation, greed, abuse of power…the list goes on.
The very reasons that the leaders and the crowds put Jesus on the cross that Holy Friday so long ago are the same reasons that we still need the cross today. It is a holy mystery that is so deep and wide that we have trouble understanding and describing it. Atonement is the theological term for it. What we know is that through the death of Jesus on the cross, we witness both the extent of our willingness to harm God as well as the extent of God’s self-giving love for us in Jesus. I pray that whenever you are reading this article, you will take time to gaze on the cross and know these Holy Friday truths for your life.
Some of you will read this article on Sunday as we gather for Easter, the magnificent celebration of the power of God to bring resurrection and new life out of the worst suffering and evil. What a difference a day makes! Easter is also a holy mystery so deep and wide that we have trouble understanding and describing it. It is a reminder that God’s love is far greater and more powerful than hell, death, violence, sin, ego, and empire. No matter how difficult and defeated it seems things are, resurrection and new life through faith and God’s love have the final word.
Whenever the day seems difficult and overwhelming, like the worst word has the final word, cling to the hope that one day makes all of the difference. Resurrection happens. On this Easter Sunday, I pray you will take time to gaze on the empty tomb and know this truth for your life.
Blessings!
Pastor Suzanne