March 29, 2024

Good Friday – March 29, 2024

A Reflection on John 18:1-19:42

The Rev. R. Allan McCaslin

Readings: Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42

From the Gospel according to St. John, “(Jesus) said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” I speak to you in the Name of God. Amen.

     It is finished. It has ended. It is accomplished. Regardless of which gospel translation we read on this Good Friday, our Lord’s own words tell us that something of infinite importance happened on the cross.

     But, for the people gathered at Golgotha on that first “Good” Friday nearly two thousand years ago, all seemed lost. For them, their hopes of redemption and the re-establishment of the throne of David in their lifetime seem but a dream – all is lost. Jesus is dead. It is finished. It has ended. It is accomplished. We think little of these words because we know the rest of the story: we know what will take place in the next few days. But for now, in this moment, many wonder and ask what is finished?

     Christians speak of the death of our Lord as an act of atonement for the sins of the entire world. For some, Christ’s atoning death has appeased the anger of a just God who demanded that someone pay for our rebellion against God. For others, this atoning death is a ransoming of humanity’s souls from the clutches of Satan. And still, for many more people, the thought that a loving God would require the brutal death of his own Son makes them question what kind of God would allow such to happen. There is no doubt in my mind that those who stood at the foot of the cross on the hill we call Calvary, wondered the same. They wondered what is finished. Any sense of faith? Our belief in a merciful God? Any hope for redemption?

     Sadly, for most Christians Good Friday is more about the resurrection and atonement than the suffering and death of our Lord. But, if we are truly reliving this Holy Week as if it is happening for the first time, then we, too, stand with those at the cross and we wonder. Our Lord’s words ring in the ears of Mary, the Magdalene, James and John, even Peter, a Centurion, and countless others. What do you mean, “It is finished” Lord? Your kingdom has yet to come. You taught us to love our neighbors as our own selves, to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, body and strength. You taught us that in caring for and meeting the needs of others, we demonstrate the purest love - God’s love. But what kind of God would do this to you? How is it possible that this day, of all days, will come to be called “Good?”

     My colleague, The Rev. Rick Morley describes the bewilderment of Good Friday as the, “day when we enter into the reality that Jesus – our friend, rabbi, and Lord – was betrayed, denied, arrested, spat upon, laughed at, whipped, and nailed to a cross and left to die in the heat of the day – naked and practically alone. And that death – the death of the one of whom we sang beautiful carols celebrating his birth just a few short months ago – breaks my heart. It stings. When I close my eyes and I see his eyes, I ache. When I hear his words, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ I ask the same question. And when I see his bloody and broken corpse unstuck from the cross, hastily prepared and shut into a tomb …. No theory of atonement makes it easier.” What is finished? What has ended? What has been accomplished?

     Beloved, as you pray the prayers and participate in tonight’s liturgy, I invite you to ask those questions and ask them boldly. Then open your ears and your hearts for God’s answer. Because the answer is immersed in God’s love - a love willing to suffer and die for us. It is a love that is willing to risk everything in order to “atone” – to make “at one” – God and creation once more. What is finished? What is ended? What is accomplished? Everything! But that answer will not be fully revealed or understood until Easter morning. Perhaps then the more important question for us to ask this evening, is what new beginning is God calling us to seek, embrace, and live this night and forever? I truly wonder … and therein lies one of the graces of this day called “Good”. Amen.