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 our age
of plenty some people have taken to collecting crucifixes. They mount them on a wall in their
homes. Some of the crucifixes present
Jesus as bloody and beaten. Others show
him with the muscles of an athlete capable of ripping out the nails in his
hands if he so wanted. Sometimes Jesus
is pictured in priestly robes or kingly dress.
None of the crucifixes ridicule Jesus despite their differences. All show him respect even though they assign different
meanings to his death.
We should
think of the four gospels like the different kinds of crucifixes. Except for Matthew’s almost duplicating Mark’s
account, each gospel describes Jesus’ death in a unique way. The Gospel of Mark, which we proclaimed last
Sunday, portrays Jesus as dying in misery.
Everyone at hand taunts him. Even
nature offers no comfort as the sky turns dark.
Today’s passion from the Gospel of John leaves a very different
impression. No one mocks Jesus on the
cross or at any other time in John’s gospel.
Nor does he die alone but with family and friends at his side. The sign on the cross is written in three
languages so that the whole world may honor him.
In the
Gospel of John, Pilate condemns Jesus at noon on the day of preparation for the
Passover feast. It is the appointed
moment for the paschal lambs to be slaughtered.
John is telling his readers that Jesus is the Lamb of God whose
sacrifice takes away their sins. This
has been Jesus’ mission given by God, his Father. Early in the gospel Jesus said to
Nicodemus that God loved the world. Indeed,
he loved it so much that he gave his only begotten son so that those who
believed in him might have eternal life.
His last words on the cross, “It is finished,” indicate that he has
accomplished what he was sent to do.
We are to
respond to Jesus’ sacrifice for us by believing in him. The act of faith is more than saying, “I
believe.” It is incorporating the life
of the Holy Trinity within us. As Father,
Son, and Spirit love each other so that they lose themselves in one another so
must we. We are to give ourselves in
love for others, certainly God above all and then our families and communities. But our love must extend to the world as
well.
