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| St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour |
Holy Redeemer
In the care of the Ecumenical
Franciscan Order
Good Friday 18th
April 2014 provided by Br Simeon
Gospel: John 18:1-19:42
“The Cross, such love”
What do you see when you look
at the cross? The sin of the world? Suffering, pain, loss? Sorrow, separation,
death? To some degree all that is present in the crucifixion. No doubt, all of
those things are the sword that pierced Mary’s soul as she stood and watched.
Those things, however, can also become the veil, the lens, that distorts our
vision of the cross. They can keep us from seeing why this day is called Good
Friday. They can keep us from seeing a way forward. Sometimes we let the
suffering of Jesus blind us to the love of God.
If today is just another day of
suffering and brutality, a day to re-enact the execution of Jesus, then it
makes no sense to speak of this day as good. We must acknowledge, however, that
good does not mean easy or magical. The goodness of Good Friday does not
eliminate the reality of sin, grief, suffering, and death. It means those are
not the final or ultimate reality of this day, or any day for that matter.
To fixate on the bloody details
of the crucifixion risks promoting a false view of what the cross of Christ
accomplishes. That fixation leaves us with an angry God seeking retribution,
payment, for humanity’s sinfulness through the violent, bloody, torturous
execution of Jesus. That is not the good news of Jesus.
The biblical descriptions do
not focus on the brutality, gore, and violence of the cross. For some reason we
have allowed that to become the focus of the crucifixion. It is there, to be
sure, but that is not where scripture places the focus. St. John offers no
graphic or bloody details. He simply states the facts:
“One of the police standing
nearby struck Jesus on the face” (18:22).
•
“Pilate
took Jesus and had him flogged” (19:1).
• “The soldiers wove a crown of
thorns and put it on his head” (19:2).
• They kept “striking him on the
face” (19:3).
• Jesus carried “the cross by
himself” (19:17).
• “They crucified him” (19:18).
• Jesus said, “I am thirsty”
(19:28).
• Jesus said, “‘It is finished.’
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (19:30).
• After Jesus was already dead
“one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear” (19:33-34).
For Jesus the focus is not on
suffering and death. It is on love. That’s why Jesus can give himself to the
cross. He doesn’t look at the cross, he sees through it. Death is not the end.
Jesus trusts the Father’s love more than his own death.
Peter, however, can neither
look at the cross nor the one who is dying. “I do not know him. I do not know
him. I do not know him.” Peter fears death is the end. For Jesus and for
himself. In a sense he’s right. Without love death is the end. Without love the
entire earth becomes a tomb.
But what if there is more to
see? What if those are simply the veil that Jesus’ death tears down? What if we are to see love there as well?
That’s what makes this Friday good. The crucified love of Christ is stronger
and more real than death. The crucified love of Jesus does more than join us in
our sufferings and dying s. It carries us through them. God’s love defeats sin
and death. Every time.
Every day we must decide which
we trust more, death or love. That decision in many ways determines our world
view, guides our relationships, affects how we approach the circumstances of
our lives, and colours our image of God. Can we see and trust the crucified
love of Good Friday in our deaths, in the violence of our world, in our losses
and sufferings, in the brutalities we experience, in the sins we commit? That
is both the challenge and the hope Good Friday offers.
The Cross of Christ is the
safeguard of our faith, the assurance of our hope, and the throne of love. It
is also the sign of God's mercy and the proof of forgiveness. By his cross
Jesus Christ has pardoned us and set us free from the tyranny of sin. He paid
the price for us when he made atonement for our sins. The way to peace, joy,
and righteousness in the kingdom of God and the way to victory over sin and corruption,
fear and defeat, despair and death is through the cross of Jesus Christ.
