Reflection for Good Friday

Mar 30, 2018

By Robin Ryan CP
On this sacred day, we listen to the story of the passion of Jesus as told by John the Evangelist. If you are anything like me, when you read or listen to this account, you find it to be simply overwhelming. It is almost too much to take in at once. The passion of Jesus is a gripping drama that reaches down inside of us and evokes our deepest and strongest emotions. It almost defies words of commentary or explanation.

In reflecting on the passion, I have been thinking about my older brother, Tom. Tom was a Navy pilot who retired from the service some years ago. He was always a bright, active and caring person with a great sense of responsibility for the rest of the family. Last June, Tom was diagnosed with fourth stage glioblastoma, a virulent form of brain cancer. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor, but this is the kind of cancer that comes back with a vengeance, and it has done so in Tom.

His prognosis is not good. Tom is now at the stage where he does not recognise anyone, even his very devoted wife, Dot. He cannot feed himself any longer. In about a week, I will be traveling from Chicago to Virginia Beach to visit Tom in the nursing home where he is now staying.

I thought of Tom in a particular way as I read John’s account of the crucifixion scene.  Mary, some other women, and the beloved disciple are depicted as standing near the cross. It seems to me that Tom, his wife Dot and their children, and the rest of our family are standing near the foot of the cross at this moment. This is the place where Jesus says, “It is finished.”

He has accomplished the mission given him by the Father. This is the place where he bows his head and hands over the spirit, the gift of his Spirit to all those who believe in him. This is the place where a soldier thrusts a lance into his side and blood and water flow out, signifying the new life that comes forth from the crucified Christ. Standing near the cross of Jesus is both a painful and a powerful place to be.

Each of us has stood near the cross at particular moments in our lives. We know this place well.  The situation may have involved the serious illness or loss of a family member, grappling with a broken relationship, experiencing a terrible disappointment, facing a disability, or a thousand other things. Whatever the situation, we know that standing near the cross is indeed a painful place to be. 

The Gospels do not suppress or gloss over the pain of the cross. In an era in which talk about a Messiah who had been crucified sounded ludicrous to many people, the Christian Scriptures presented the death of Jesus directly and vividly.

For Christians, keeping the memory of Jesus’ death is a living reminder that we are never alone as we stand near the cross in our own lives. While our faith does not magically remove the pain of that place, you and I are assured that Jesus, the crucified Son of God, is in solidarity with us at that place. He is intimately close to us because he has experienced that place in the most personal and intense way possible.

Standing near the cross of Jesus is also, however, a powerful place to be. It is powerful not because God finds any joy in human suffering. It was human beings, not God the Father, who put Jesus on the cross. Christianity is not a cult of suffering. Standing near the cross of Jesus is a powerful place to be because it is the place where the power of God is present and at work – quietly, faithfully, patiently at work from within.

At his own moment of death, Jesus held on to the hand of his Abba God, and, even in this hour of darkness, experienced communion with this tenaciously faithful God. And God was present and on the move to bring life out of death. The flow of blood and water from the pierced side of Christ is a sign of that new life that will become manifest in the raising of Jesus from the dead.

For us, too, despite its pain, standing near the cross can be a powerful place to be. For my family, Tom’s illness has brought us together in a spirit of care and support at a whole new level. That does not explain why Tom and his wife and children are going through this ordeal.

Suffering remains a mystery that defies any human explanation, even the most theological of explanations. But it is clear that God’s grace has been at work through this difficult time to offer us new life. Witnessing the fidelity and care of Tom’s wife, Dot, has been one way in which God has communicated to us something of his own fidelity. 

In faith, I know that God is holding on to the hand of Tom even at this moment in which Tom cannot communicate with us. There is enduring communion between the crucified and risen Christ and Tom in his own time of crucifixion. And, as he was present at Calvary, God is faithfully, quietly at work to bring life out of death for Tom and for his family.

Standing near the cross of Jesus is a painful and a powerful place to be. As we pray this Good Friday, we are invited to stand there with Jesus and his disciples. And we are called to trust that what is happening there is what happens wherever the God of Jesus Christ is present: God is faithfully present and at work to bring life out of death. We believe that this, in fact, is what God does for a living.