Good Friday - Following Jesus' Example

One gospel hymn has us loudly and rhythmically singing, “ I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.”  Well, if there is any day of Jesus' life that we might choose to turn back from, the Friday we call “good” would be it.  Following a man about to be crucified appears to be the height of foolishness.  Following a man whose followers mostly have disappeared from the scene and are hiding out for fear of their lives seems to be unwise.  Yet now, because we know Jesus' crucifixion on Friday was not the end, we do sing loudly about following him.

But what does “following Jesus” mean?  When we follow, we can learn from his example.  One of our Holy Week hymns addresses what we can learn from Jesus.  Using the verses of this hymn, let's reflect on what Jesus' example during his final days teaches us.

“Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter's power; your Redeemer's conflict see, watch with him one bitter hour. Turn not from his griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray.”

What does temptation mean in a time of darkness?   Give into the darkness or escape it?  Perhaps both—maybe one, then the other.  To rage in anger at what life has dealt. To scream that this intolerable situation must change now!!  But Jesus' conflict had a different quality. His words suggested a conversation with the Divine from whom he had come:  “If it is possible—could there be any other way out—could sin, evil and death be conquered some other way? “ And then hearing none, he prayed as his mother, Mary, had prayed at the Annunciation—your will, O Divine One, be done.

What are our dark Gethsemanes?  What must we do before we are gathered in God's sustaining presence where we become one with God, encompassed in divine love?  Watch, stay present with God, ask to be given insight into the divine will for your life: “learn from Jesus Christ to pray.”

 “See him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned; O the wormwood and the gall! O the pangs his soul sustained! Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.”

 Is there any pain like my pain?  Is there any suffering like my suffering?  Probably yes; and probably greater even than yours.  These are not pastoral words of comfort.  Indeed, false comfort makes suffering worse. Should suffering be escaped whenever possible?  Oh, yes! Do not seek martyrdom.  Should we relieve pain whenever we have the capability to do so?  Most certainly! Yet our bodies are mortal; they decay; and pain comes.  Our spirits can endure only so much, and they may fail us as well. Unmerited suffering, an attack by someone we called a friend or loved one, loss of what has given our life meaning—many times these place themselves in our path and the path looks too narrow to avoid them.  We may try to fight the unfairness, the betrayal and the shame, but if we lose—and in this life, often we may lose—what is left for us to do?  We can curse God, or we can call on God to stand with us in our suffering: “learn of Christ to bear the cross.”

“Calvary's mournful mountain climb; there, adoring at his feet, mark that miracle of time, God's own sacrifice complete. 'It is finished!' hear him cry; learn of Jesus Christ to die.”

Not all the disciples of Jesus fled and hid in fear.  John's gospel tells us at the foot of Jesus' cross were “his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”  Here I must take issue with the writer of this hymn text—I don't believe these women felt 'adoration.'  The sacrifice of Jesus' life on the cross to the power of evil, sin and death could only be described as horrific. And yet, and yet . . . will we, recognizing the transforming power of God to turn this horror into blessing, falling on our knees in adoration?  When Jesus said, 'It is finished,' he offered all that he was and all that he had suffered to the transforming power of divine love.  When we place our faith in God's power, in the end, finally to turn whatever has caused our suffering and pain into eternal glory and eternal joy in the divine presence, we can do no more: “learn of Jesus Christ to die.”

May God comfort you in your praying; may God strengthen you for the crosses you must bear and, finally, may God redeem and transform your dying as God did for God's self in Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Amen.