Good Friday address 1
The following words were found written on a wall in the Warsaw Ghetto – they were believed to be written by a Jew in about 1942, shortly before the ghetto was cleared and many of it’s residents were taken away to die in concentration camps : The words said :
I believe in the sun, even if it does not shine.
I believe in love, even if I do not feel it.
I believe in God, even if I do not see him.
Standing at the foot of the cross – how many people could have spoken those words – I’m not sure… Because on that first Good Friday, bright days seemed a distant memory, love seemed to be dying on the cross and God, if there was a God at all, didn’t seem very interested…
The cross, as the Bible tells us, makes no sense to those who don’t know what comes next. The cross speaks of pain and torture, of finality, of defeat… but on the cross Jesus was getting closer to victory.
On this Good Friday we rightly remember the incidents that led Jesus to the cross – we can look at the jealousy and perhaps fear of the religious authorities, we can remember the disinterest shown by Pontius Pilate, the betrayal of Jesus by one of his closest friends, Judas Iscariot, the abandonment of Jesus by Peter, who denied even knowing him, and other disciples, who weren’t found at the foot of the cross – they had gone – somewhere, we don’t quite know where, but they were not with Jesus…
We can remember the teaching that put Jesus on the cross – the claims as to who he was – the identification of himself with a God of love, a God of compassion, a God who believed that people were equal, that people were all made in the image of God, and all had the same chances – to do good, to do wrong, to make mistakes, to try again….
Where was God on that first Good Friday – He was there on the cross… he was there accepting the pain and the suffering, accepting the humiliation for the wrongs of people everywhere…
But there were some there at the cross who perhaps recognised this – there were some who could have written those words found on the wall of the Warsaw Ghetto – some who had not given up hope of something spectacular happening, some who could still see light in the darkness, who could still feel love, who could still see God – there was John, there was Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the wife of Clopas – it seemed as if your name was Mary, you had to be at the cross that day !
But of course there is the significance of the fact that it was mainly women that followed Jesus to the cross – there were practical reasons of course – it was safer for them than it would have been for men, but perhaps they were more ready to listen, more ready to trust, less willing to give up that day…
And this willingness to approach the cross is essential in our Christian lives – we can’t always find pleasure and joy though we might want it, we can’t always take the easy road when hard choices are demanded…
Jesus took the pain of the cross for us – and he did it to show that pain could be transcended; he did it to show that ultimately good would win over bad, light would always penetrate darkness.
I often wonder where I would have been on the day of crucifixion if I had been a disciple of Jesus… If I had watched the miracles that he had performed, witnessed the lives that he had changed, spent time listening to his teaching, his preaching, his innermost thoughts… if I had watched closely as he stood up to the authorities in the Temple, if I had watched the courage of Jesus standing before Pontius Pilate, if I had seen the love he showed, even to those who had no love for him…
Surely with all of these incredible things witnessed I would be willing to trust him for a bit longer and go to the cross with him – but I’m not sure it’s true… I have the benefit of knowing the ending, the benefit of knowing that on that Good Friday, Sunday wasn’t very far away, but if I didn’t then I wonder…
I wonder if perhaps I too would have thought the world had won – if I too had thought perhaps that there was nothing that could defeat the religious authorities or the Romans, or the people with ‘power’…
And that is a common fear for so many which brings the cross into our time – what Jesus did, he did once and for all – and he did for those who, even today, find life difficult, who suffer from injustices, who battle poverty, who live in the middle of conflict, and who believe that there is nothing that they can do to make life any better….
Jesus showed that even out of the deepest darkness, light will follow if we trust him, if we follow his way…. Jesus showed that we can believe in the sun if it doesn’t shine, we can believe in love, even if we don’t feel it, and we can believe in God, even when we don’t see him…
Gregory of Nazianzus, the Archbishop of Constantinople in the 4th century, wrote a piece entitled, ‘Who was Jesus?’ It reads :-
He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King. Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death. AMEN
I believe in the sun, even if it does not shine.
I believe in love, even if I do not feel it.
I believe in God, even if I do not see him.
Standing at the foot of the cross – how many people could have spoken those words – I’m not sure… Because on that first Good Friday, bright days seemed a distant memory, love seemed to be dying on the cross and God, if there was a God at all, didn’t seem very interested…
The cross, as the Bible tells us, makes no sense to those who don’t know what comes next. The cross speaks of pain and torture, of finality, of defeat… but on the cross Jesus was getting closer to victory.
On this Good Friday we rightly remember the incidents that led Jesus to the cross – we can look at the jealousy and perhaps fear of the religious authorities, we can remember the disinterest shown by Pontius Pilate, the betrayal of Jesus by one of his closest friends, Judas Iscariot, the abandonment of Jesus by Peter, who denied even knowing him, and other disciples, who weren’t found at the foot of the cross – they had gone – somewhere, we don’t quite know where, but they were not with Jesus…
We can remember the teaching that put Jesus on the cross – the claims as to who he was – the identification of himself with a God of love, a God of compassion, a God who believed that people were equal, that people were all made in the image of God, and all had the same chances – to do good, to do wrong, to make mistakes, to try again….
Where was God on that first Good Friday – He was there on the cross… he was there accepting the pain and the suffering, accepting the humiliation for the wrongs of people everywhere…
But there were some there at the cross who perhaps recognised this – there were some who could have written those words found on the wall of the Warsaw Ghetto – some who had not given up hope of something spectacular happening, some who could still see light in the darkness, who could still feel love, who could still see God – there was John, there was Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the wife of Clopas – it seemed as if your name was Mary, you had to be at the cross that day !
But of course there is the significance of the fact that it was mainly women that followed Jesus to the cross – there were practical reasons of course – it was safer for them than it would have been for men, but perhaps they were more ready to listen, more ready to trust, less willing to give up that day…
And this willingness to approach the cross is essential in our Christian lives – we can’t always find pleasure and joy though we might want it, we can’t always take the easy road when hard choices are demanded…
Jesus took the pain of the cross for us – and he did it to show that pain could be transcended; he did it to show that ultimately good would win over bad, light would always penetrate darkness.
I often wonder where I would have been on the day of crucifixion if I had been a disciple of Jesus… If I had watched the miracles that he had performed, witnessed the lives that he had changed, spent time listening to his teaching, his preaching, his innermost thoughts… if I had watched closely as he stood up to the authorities in the Temple, if I had watched the courage of Jesus standing before Pontius Pilate, if I had seen the love he showed, even to those who had no love for him…
Surely with all of these incredible things witnessed I would be willing to trust him for a bit longer and go to the cross with him – but I’m not sure it’s true… I have the benefit of knowing the ending, the benefit of knowing that on that Good Friday, Sunday wasn’t very far away, but if I didn’t then I wonder…
I wonder if perhaps I too would have thought the world had won – if I too had thought perhaps that there was nothing that could defeat the religious authorities or the Romans, or the people with ‘power’…
And that is a common fear for so many which brings the cross into our time – what Jesus did, he did once and for all – and he did for those who, even today, find life difficult, who suffer from injustices, who battle poverty, who live in the middle of conflict, and who believe that there is nothing that they can do to make life any better….
Jesus showed that even out of the deepest darkness, light will follow if we trust him, if we follow his way…. Jesus showed that we can believe in the sun if it doesn’t shine, we can believe in love, even if we don’t feel it, and we can believe in God, even when we don’t see him…
Gregory of Nazianzus, the Archbishop of Constantinople in the 4th century, wrote a piece entitled, ‘Who was Jesus?’ It reads :-
He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King. Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death. AMEN
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