April 7, 2023

A Message for Good Friday based on John 19:28-42

Good Friday (Year A)
April 7, 2023
Steve Keeler

Lord Jesus, who stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come back within the reach of saving embrace: Clothe us in your Spirit, that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your name. Amen. +

The very last words of Jesus give expression to a harsh reality when the precious gift of life comes to an end, “It is finished.” The finality of one man’s life as he was crucified on a cross for the general public to see, would prove to be one more milestone in the life of one that the world knows as Jesus as Nazareth.

As the years passed, people like the apostle Paul would acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus on a Friday afternoon in Jerusalem was looked upon by many a human soul as nothing more than a scandal. This particular school of thought advocated the position that the death of Jesus meant nothing more than the sad end of one more political and social uprising against a foreign occupation. Others believed that it constituted plain foolishness. In their eyes, it was skewed theology to believe that the death of a man on a cross could serve as a means to save and redeem humanity.

I often wonder what it was like for family, friends, and a city population to watch such an event, that of hammering spikes into a man’s wrists and feet. History tells us that there are those who enjoy such spectacles. Through the ages, people have gathered in the public square to watch an execution and so it was on a Friday afternoon at a place called  Golgotha, the place of the skull, so aptly named don’t you think?

“It is finished.” Is it? Is Jesus and the Jesus movement really over? For Joseph Arimathea and a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus, it sure appeared that it was finished and yet, any rational human being has to admire their courage as Pilate gave permission for the removal of Jesus’ body and approval for his burial. And the Bible says that Nicodemus brought with him not 25, 50 or 75 pounds of myrrh and aloe, but a hundred pounds of the mixture. Somewhat a closet follower of Jesus, on a Friday afternoon this distinguished Pharisee believed that Jesus was finished. There was no more life left.

As we leave this place of worship this afternoon, all of us will tackle work, chores, commitments, and obligations. As we move about, the image of a cross in addition to the last words of a man crucified on a cross will follow us wherever we go and wherever we are. And then there is Holy Saturday, a day when we ponder the events of a Friday afternoon and try, again, to make sense of it all and its meaning for us, the church, and the world.

I leave you with the words of a Scotsman, whose work and ministry was to keep the image of the cross in front of all humanity –

I simply argue that the cross be raised again,
at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church.

I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles
but on a cross between two thieves;
On a town garbage heap;
at a crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title
in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek . . .
and at the kind of place where cynics talk smut,
and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where He died,
and that is what He died about.

And that is where Christ’s own ought to be,
And that is what church people ought to be about.”  (George MacLeod)

Amen. +

As the day ends, we prepare for the deafening silence of Holy Saturday. May the Lord bless and keep you. +