Good Friday of the
Lord’s Passion
(Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John
18:1-19:42)
In the Gospel of John, Jesus dies with enigmatic words on
his lips. What does he mean when he
says, “’It is finished’”? What is
finished? Does Jesus have his life in
mind? Is he saying something like his apostle
Paul who writes near the time of his death:
“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Perhaps he is only saying that his ordeal is
ending. He has been betrayed by a
disciple, brutalized by the Roman soldiers, and finally crucified as a
treacherous criminal. Do we note a sigh
of relief in these words? No, that is not
it. Jesus means that he has completed
the mission on which his Father sent him.
He has given himself as the sacrifice that achieves the forgiveness of
the world’s sins.
Certainly this is the message of the first two
readings. Jesus fits the description of
the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. “He was
pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins…” The Letter to the Hebrews is more explicit in
referring to Jesus. It says, “Son though
he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect, he became the source of
eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
Jesus has made up for human disobedience by suffering and dying in obedience
to the Father.
But we should not think of forgiveness as automatic. We are not forgiven because we are humans or
even because we are Christians. No, we
must acknowledge our sins and ask forgiveness.
Many of us have difficulty recognizing our sins. We do not think we do anything worse than “telling
white lies” or “having bad thoughts.” Others
admit that they have graver faults but justify themselves saying they are not
adulterers or thieves. This kind of
thinking reveals the root of our sin in self-centeredness. We live for ourselves and not for God.
This year we are experiencing extraordinary
circumstances. The normal venue for
acknowledging sins and asking forgiveness is not largely available. What are we to do? Live in fear that our sins may damn us? No, that is not necessary at all. We simply make an act of perfect contrition in
our hearts. We tell the Lord that we are
sorry because we love him even more than ourselves. We also promise to go to Confession as soon
as possible. Then, as sure as God will
deliver us from the Corona-19 pandemic, He will forgive us our sins.
