Good Friday

I was told by the Messianic Rabbi to read Torah through each year. It is the foundation book of the Old Testament (i.e., what the early Christians meant when they said 'Scripture'). One of the verses that jumped out at me retold a story of Israel's sin and punishment. They "reaped what they sowed" and so they were in a bad way. The people cried out to God in the bad situation, less out of repentance than of need. Concepts of grace were formulated in my mind as I read. The language was especially impactful. This is a rough paraphrase of what it said.

God saw what they suffered
God heard their cry
God remembered His covenant
God knew.

Ever since then that fourfold explication of God's interaction with His people has stuck with me. God sees, He hears, He remembers, He knows.  This fourfold  description of God also resonates with our own call. When we celebrate the Good Friday service (in sacred space and time) we are transported and participants in the cross. Our celebration becomes a venue to particate with Christ. The power of the service is palpable. Our acolyte who held a wooden cross at the veneration told me, "I will never be the same." Holding that cross as the 100 or participants came forward was profound and deep for her. I know that feeling, I have had it myself. Words are useless to capture it.

When we gather in worship we see, we hear, we remember and we know. A sacramental worldview allows one to enter the mystery. Being a liturgical Christian in this area, as I have said before, is a double pain. So many are not believers. So many believers are not liturgical. So as we gather to remember the cross and death of Jesus, around the corner a major Easter Egg hunt and party was going on. All manner of folk gathered for that, more than we saw in our church.

One of our children, a seven year old was quite taken aback. As he walked into the church he told me that it made no sense. Why would someone hunts Easter eggs when Jesus is dying today? Why indeed... I wonder how many lie minded folks there will be in his future?

The cross of Jesus is horrible. It is all the worse because so many thousands of others shared in this form of death. The brutality and the 'every-day-ness' are hard to fathom in our world. I pray it will remain so.

Why did Jesus have to die? I do not really know. I have heard the theories and read endless books. I have never heard an explanation which made me say, "I get it now!" My own explanation is the one which makes most sense to me, it is something inherent in the world we live. Not the hypothetical world of what 'could be' but the actual world of what is. Incarnation, love and mercy are connected in the cross. I do not know how it works. I know that it is the way things are. I am comfortable with that. My world is full of things (cell phones, cars, radios, tv) which I trust and know, without understanding. My world is full of people whom I trust and know, without understanding. My world is full of a God whom I trust and know, without understanding.

All that said, the cross makes me cry. It challenges me to be brave and faithful. It inspires and befuddles at the same time. I find it easy to say "thank you" to Jesus, over and over. I appreciate what He did. I understand that any explanation of reality must be cross centered. Good Friday makes one long for Easter. There is pain and hope mixed together this day.