Although
we are celebrating the Good Friday holiday at the university where I teach, I
am sitting in my office working. To be
honest, I am not really sure what to make of this particular holiday. First of all, is it really a holiday? If we are referring to the original meaning
of “holiday” (that being “holy day”) then every single Christian or
non-Christian seeker should be worshipping today. Whether it is an elaborate liturgical service
at the community cathedral or a small, private vigil in the village chapel, all
people of faith should be gathering to remember Christ dying on the cross for
all humanity. However, today is more of
a civic holiday for those of us who are employed in institutions that are
religiously affiliated, giving many a three-day weekend so that consumers can
take advantage of some extra spring sales while their business counterparts
pine away for 5:00 to come. In this
reality, the only good to occur will be the green that is exchanged in
bookstores and boutiques across our land.
Sure, a pretty dress or handsome tie may be purchased for Easter Sunday
worship. Yet, is that really a reason to
call today “Good Friday?”
Second
of all, is it really “good?” This word
is an odd duck in the Bible. God defines
“good” as something that He creates to proclaim His majesty and compel humanity
to seek Him for life and purpose. Creation
is the beginning of Gospel.[1] This, then, becomes the theme of the Hebrew Scriptures—“For
the LORD is good; his
steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm
100:5).[2] Therefore, it should not surprise us when
Christ questions the motives of the young politician who refers to him as “good:”
“Why do you call me good? No one is good
but God alone” (Luke 18:19). Jesus asked
the young politician if he really understood what divine goodness means. As Kierkegaard once said, the acceptance of
God’s goodness compels us to “fear and trembling” because we realize that
nothing is greater or more good than God.[3]
Also,
how can we remember this particular day as “good?” When God created, he referred to his work as “good.” Yet, on this particular Friday, I struggle to
see goodness. I am writing this around noon. By this time, Jesus, exhausted
physically and spiritually, has endured an all-night trial, been beaten and
spit on, shuffled between the palaces of Pilate and Herod, whipped to the point
of death, paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, nailed to the cross, and
abandoned by just about everyone who knows him.
“It was not about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until
three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the
temple was torn in two. Then Jesus,
crying with a loud voice said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last” (Luke
23:44-46). What is the “good” in this
situation? “This has to be the Son of
God,” comes the feeble cry from the back of the room. What is that? Speak up!
What was that you said? “Truly this man was God’s Son” (Mark
15:39)! Ah, perhaps there is something “good”
about today after all.
[1]Walter
Brueggemann, Genesis, Interpretation:
A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982),
20, 26.
[2]Robert Davidson,
The Vitality of Worship: A Commentary on
the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge/Edinburgh: Eerdmans/Handsel
Press, 1998), 327-328.
[3]Soren
Kierkegaard, Training in Christianity and
the Edifying Discourse which “Accompanied” It, trans. Walter Lowrie, ed.
John F. Thornton and Susan B. Varenne, Vintage Spiritual Classics (New York:
Vintage/Random House, 2004), 75.
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