Good Friday 2014

Those who observed Passion Sunday rather than Palm Sunday or did both
heard the version recorded in Matthew. Today's appointed lessons give us
the version recorded in John. A teacher whose message conflicted with
the received orthodoxy of the day was put to death by the Romans at the
behest of the Jewish leaders because his teachings were perceived as a
threat to their authority.

The OT Lesson from Isaiah invokes the Israelites' rescue from slavery in
Egypt and rejoices in God's continued redemption of Jerusalem even in
the face of repeated defeats and exile. The Psalm contains text quoted
by Jesus on the cross. In Hebrews the Epistle promises not only the
forgiveness of sins but also that they will be forgotten, wiped out as a
transgression is blotted from one's record. The congregation of those so
redeemed will meet together for mutual support and to assist one another
in advancing God's work here on earth. For those redeemed by faith will
feel compelled to respond to that love with acts of love of their own.

The text recorded in the Gospels was written at least 300 years after
the events took place. Those who had lost a beloved teacher felt a
desperate need to make his death count for something and invoked the
ancient scapegoat model to give meaning to their loss. The Passover Lamb
whose blood on the Israelites' doorposts ensured their deliverance from
the Angel of Death is seen as a parallel for Jesus' sacrificial act.
Jesus had to go out in a blaze of glory while still in his prime for had
he eluded the Jewish authorities and for example retired to a life of
seclusion in the Essene community and lived to reach his dotage he may
have died a respected teacher but his life would have lost much of its
impact. By marching into Jerusalem as he did on Palm Sunday he committed
an act tantamount to suicide.

Whether or not you want to believe in a physical resurrection and
ascension into the heavens is a matter of faith. Either way a man once
lived whose teachings so shook the world that their effects are felt to
this day. If you want to see Jesus' crucifixion and death as a
representation of God's redeeming love fine, but God has always been
willing to accept those who believe in him. This act could be seen as
illustrative of God's love but I cannot buy that it redeemed Moses,
Elijah, Abraham and Isaac. God's redeeming love is eternal, it has
always existed. Jesus just made it dramatically apparent in his Person.
He incarnated this aspect of God's love which has always existed.

Today we once more commemorate that great act of love eternally renewed.