Good Friday – 10 April 2020
Dear friends
Today is Good Friday and on this day, we think of Jesus’ dying on the cross.
It must have been a terrible sight for all to see. No-wonder the Gospel of Luke recalls something of this when he says that all the people who witnessed Jesus’ dying moments’, walked away while beating their breasts (Luke 23:48). The “beating of their breasts” was a typical sign of mourning.
It was so traumatic that all who knew Jesus, including the women, who had followed Him from Galilee watched it from a distance (Luke 23:49).
Luke does not tell us the names of the women as Mark and Matthew does. He just says: “the woman who had followed Him from Galilee”. Maybe Luke wanted to be sensitive and protect their identities because in the eyes of their society they would have been regarded as “shameful”.
There is a stark contrast in all the Biblical accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus between God and humankind. Unlike humans who struggles to forgive, God forgave the sinners. Jesus said in his final moments: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”
Unlike humans who stood and watched from a distance, God decided to come close to us through the dying of Jesus on the cross, so that we can live without the burdens of sin, death and hell.
Unlike the Palestinian Jews, who “labeled” the women who accompanied Jesus’ group of disciples, Jesus included them in His journey of suffering, forgiveness and mercy.
Unlike humans God decided to love and have mercy on humanity who could not save themselves.
Good Friday is only good because it saved you and me from the suffering and crucifixion caused by sin, death and hell. Jesus took our sins upon him and saved us.
Make time today to be quiet and still in the presence of God, thinking and remembering what He did for you! If you have a “cross” or a “nail” or a “piece of wood”, take it in your hands and reflect on the immensity of God’s love for you.
All my best regards,
André