Good Friday: Our Story

Today Jesus encounters the worst that the world can do to a human.  He has confronted the forces of the Dark Side.  And he has died because of human sin, manifested in the domination systems of his own time. As the renowned Episcopal priest and preacher Barbara Brown Taylor has written, "Jesus was not brought down by atheism and anarchy.  He was brought down by law and order allied with religion which is always a deadly mix."  It is important to remember that we all participate in human sin and, so, as the old hymn states, "'Twas I who denied him.  I crucified him!"

We see the events of this day through the lenses of the several evangelists, each with his different traditions about Good Friday, and today we read the late reflective Johannine gospel, recognizing that John is largely ahistorical and anti-Semitic, the product of a latter Christian community angry with mainstream Jews and eager to cosy with the Empire.  Thus, in Matthew's early gospel we encounter a Pilate who is depicted as the monster he was, and Judas as a pathetic, repentant figure.  By John's gospel, Pilate has become a vacillating, almost pious character, and Judas is an unrepentant embezzler and  traitor, a quintessential dark villain.  Indeed some scholars question his very existence; his name conveniently means "the Jew."  According to John's text, after all disciples had already abandoned Jesus, someone records a "Jewish trial," the details of which don't stand up to scrutiny.  But that's another discussion.

Because the Son of God experienced pain, our own pain is blessed and redeemed.  Because he experienced loss, we can find his presence in the midst of our own loss.  And, in communion wit him, we can offer our suffering up to God. Christ will live again, because God will not permit evil to prevail and therefore we, with Jesus, receive the new life of Easter.

But for today, we subject ourselves again to a terrifying story and we enter it as both witnesses and participants.  For this is not just a tale from two thousand long years ago.   In ways we cannot fully understand this side of the veil, it is the power of God for eternity, redemptive death.  On the day we open our hearts to be broken, we can recklessly dare to hope in the face of Darkness.   Jesus' story becomes our own.

And, so, our suffering is not removed. (God never promised us a rose garden.)  No, our suffering is redeemed and our lives are transformed as we experience new life in Christ.  Christ will live, and so shall we. Thank God, this Good Friday was not the end of story.   For us Good Fridays are never the end of the story.