Good Friday 2014

The streets were crowded with people, animals, sounds, smells during the Jewish feast of Passover.  People had made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem to take part.  Just a few days before, a man had come into the city riding a donkey and crowds of Jewish people had flocked to him and had laid down their cloaks for him to ride on and had waved their palm branches as he passed -- the tribute to a king.

The man, Jesus, had his disciples with him and they were ecstatic.  All of the walking, the towns, the cities, the hardships, the sacrifices, the distance between them and their families -- the choice that they had made when they followed him -- had worked out after all.  Even though he had told them terrible things that would come and had chastised them for not believing him and for wishing it otherwise.

They were to have their dinner that night in an upper room already reserved for their use.  All of the preparations were being made.  Two people knew that the evening would not end well -- Jesus and Judas.

And so on Good Friday, the Bible prophecies start to unfold.  Jesus is taken into custody by the Jewish authorities, seized by the temple guards after being identified by one of his trusted.  Jesus is tried by the Jewish authorities, sent to Pilate who sends him to Herod who questions him and returns him to Pilate for another trial.  Pilate's wife has a frightening dream and she begs her husband to have nothing to do with Jesus, a holy man she says.  Pilate tries in a feeble way to disassociate himself, wanting to release Jesus, but the Jewish hierarchy is angry with Jesus, jealous of Jesus, and wary of Jesus.  They've heard that he can heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and even raise a man already dead four days.  He threatens their stronghold on the power they possess in Jerusalem.  And so they whip up a frenzy in the crowd and insist that another prisoner be released instead.

Knowing what he was to face later, Jesus had prayed in the garden and was so distraught that he sweated blood. 

And thus on Good Friday, as it has come to be known, we remember what Jesus endured for us, the torment, the physical agony, and the spiritual agony when he bore our sins for us.

Christians especially take time between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. to think about Jesus, to stop what they are doing, and to pray.

The life changing events of Good Friday affect all of those who love Jesus, but have a profound effect on some:

• Peter who swears his loyalty to Jesus, only to make Jesus' prediction come true and deny that he knows Jesus three times.
• Judas who accepts money for turning in Jesus, who tries to return the blood money, and who believing himself unforgiveable hangs himself.
• For Matthias who will soon be tapped to take the place of the treasurer, Judas, and become the new 12th apostle.
• For the other apostles who had spoken boldly of Jesus but who find themselves afraid and hiding after his death.  In fact, it is the women who venture out to anoint Jesus' body and who end up discovering that the tomb is empty.
• And especially for his mother, Mary, who is entrusted to the care of the apostle John, and who is bereft at the loss of her son. 

How does loving Jesus change our lives?  How are we different from this relationship?  Can we truly understand the magnitude of what Jesus did for us? 

Good Friday is a day when we recognize our sinfulness and we believe as Peter did that we can be forgiven. 

Our Lenten quote for today is:

"Everyone around me says they will never doubt God again. I never have. I knew He would do what He thought best. He did, and I will devote my whole life to working for Him in any way He wants to use me." Rhoda Wise, Canton, Ohio (An effort is underway to present Rhoda Wise as a candidate for sainthood.)