Good Friday
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16.5:7-9; John
18:1-19:42)
The Gospel of John features encounters with Jesus. It tells of characters like Nicodemus, the
Samaritan woman, and Mary Magdalena revealing to Jesus the depths of their
hearts and receiving from him unconditional acceptance. But not everyone who encounters Jesus responds
with faith. The paralytic whom Jesus
heals at the pool of Bethesda, for example, never enters into a relationship
with him. In the passage we just read it
is Pilate’s turn to encounter Jesus. The
drama of their meeting is intense.
First-time listeners to this passion account may be asking themselves whether
Pilate will say “yes” to him.
The scene opens as a typical day in the life of a Roman
governor. Jesus is escorted within
Pilate’s residence for a judicial hearing.
Meanwhile Pilate steps outside for the Jews’ accusation against
Jesus. He comes back to ask Jesus whether
it is true: “Are you,” he says, “the king of the Jews?” Jesus' reply, “Do you
say this on your own…” gives Pilate opportunity to declare himself for Jesus,
but Pilate sneers at it. Then Jesus
explains that indeed he is a king whose dominion is over those who recognize the
truth of his being sent from God. Pilate cynically responds, “What is truth?” Aware that Jesus is innocent, Pilate goes
outside to negotiate with the Jews, but they demand his crucifixion. Their comment that Jesus “made himself Son of
God” frightens Pilate thinking that Jesus may be who he says he is. Jesus wins Pilate’s admiration, but when he repeats
to the Jews his intention to release Jesus, they bully him by saying that such
an act would make him no friend of the emperor.
Pilate capitulates to expediency and decides to have Jesus crucified.
God calls everyone to a personal relationship with Him
through Jesus. Contemporary times
incline many to cynically reject the possibility. They bully others into fearing that having
such a relationship will deprive them of pleasure, prestige, or power. We must rise up against these prejudices with
the realization that a positive relationship with Jesus enables us to be all
that we can be. His death on the cross
and resurrection from the dead give us an insight into eternal life. That life – which the Greek of John’s
describes as zoe, not the ordinary bios, is the love of the Trinity, a
community of radical self-giving and receiving.
