Two of the three most solemn days in our
Christian liturgical year can be tucked away from sight. If Palm Sunday is celebrated with the reading
of one of the Passion narratives, worshippers do glimpse Good Friday. If not, then worshippers go from Jesus’
joyful greeting by residents of Jerusalem waving palms to the women disciples
and Peter discovering Christ’s resurrection on Easter morning. What happened in between and what it means remains
unexamined.
But here we are on the evening of Good Friday. The first of the three days began yesterday, Thursday
evening at sundown. This evening at
sundown we began the second day. Jesus
was crucified and died this past afternoon.
The good Jewish folk who took possession of Jesus’ body—especially
Joseph of Arimathea who offered his unused tomb for Jesus’ burial—rushed to
bury his body before the Sabbath began at sundown.
Now it is Sabbath, a good time for
reflection. The Nicene Creed briefly gives
us the reason for what happened to Jesus:
“For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death
and was buried.” For our sake! This was the greater purpose in the choices
Jesus made on Good Friday.
We also learn from the Apostles’ Creed that
Jesus really died—since he was fully human, as well as fully divine—he died as
anyone of us would have under the same circumstances: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, died and was buried. He
descended to the dead.” Dead, dead,
dead! No question about it.
Theologically we get the picture. These two days of suffering and death prepare
us to recognize the true miracle of Christ’s resurrection. But is there more
than this for us to understand about these days?
Our creeds, our prayers written for use in public
worship, Chapter 8 of the Westminster Confession entitled “Of Christ the
Mediator”—all these can be used as tools to enhance our understanding of what
was happening on Good Friday. There is
one more source, though, that we often use without giving it a second thought:
our hymn texts.
One hymn appointed for use in Holy Week directly
addresses what these days of Jesus’ suffering and death teach us. According to this hymn text, Jesus’ choices
and actions from the time he went to Gethsemane through his crucifixion teach
us three things: how to pray, how to
bear the cross, and how to die. Let me
share each verse with you. In the
silence I leave after each of the three verses, please meditate on how the Holy
Spirit may lead you to understand the words you have just heard.
“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.” [Silence]
“Follow to the judgment hall; view the Lord of
life arraigned; O the wormwood and the gall! O the pangs his soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of him to bear the cross.” [Silence]
“Calvary’s mournful mountain climb; there,
adoring at his feet, mark the miracle of time, God’s own sacrifice complete;
‘It is finished,’ hear him cry; learn of Jesus Christ to die.” [Silence]
None of us knows what lies ahead of us. Nor do
we know what lies ahead for those we love.
What we do know is this: whatever difficulties, troubled times, or pain
life throws at us or those we love, Jesus has shown us how to be steadfast. Jesus has showed us how to reach out to God
for the strength we need. And at end we
know we have a redeemer who has suffered as we suffer. We have a redeemer whose
suffering, death and resurrection make it clear we have sure and certain hope
in God’s grace. And, yes, we have a
redeemer who gives us the courage, even at the grave, to utter “Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia.”
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