A Very “Good” Friday

A Reflection on the Gospel of John 18-19 – 29 March 2024

     Today we celebrate “Good Friday.” Many ask, what is so “good” about Jesus’ passion and death on a cross two millennia ago? Certainly, when it occurred, many saw Jesus’ passion and death as a catastrophe. Listen to the despair in the words of the two disciples traveling on the road to Emmaus three days after the crucifixion:

“But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.” (Luke 24:21 NRSVCE)

     Theirs is the language of a lost hope, a tragedy. Jesus, in their estimation, has to be finished after three days in the grave. Yet, the cross was, and remains, a battlefield whereon fights a mighty warrior. The grave cannot hold Him. The cross is the path chosen by God for Christ to achieve definitive victory over sin and death. (1 Cor 1:23–24) We know that our savior lives.

     The people of Israel were hard pressed by years of disaster and desperately sought relief. They had experienced one invasion after another and were beset by constant internal bickering that had gone on for hundreds of years. They desperately sought a Savior, who would in one fell swoop, put an end to their suffering. They wanted their defeat turned into immediate victory. They sought an earthly Savior, who would restore the kingdom of Israel and usher in the Messianic age of deliverance from sin, exile, and death.

     Scripture does foresee a Messiah, God’s anointed, who would be “a warrior who gives victory” (Zephaniah 3:17 NRSVCE) The Messiah would be a “young lion” who “will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it, he will spare and rescue it.” (Isaiah 31:4–5 NRSVCE) That is exactly who Jesus is.

      Despite the outward appearance of Jesus’ passion and death on the cross as a defeat, what we are witnessing is a cosmic battlefield and the greatest of warriors putting an end to death. What began in such humble circumstances in a stable thirty-three years earlier, culminates in this final battle. Christ the warrior conquers evil with good, hate with love, and through death, brings life. With the words, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) the Messiah announces the long-awaited victory. The fight is over. The war is won. Satan, the accuser, is cast out. (Revelation 12:10)

     Because of Good Friday, evil, hate, and death have no hold over all who take up the name of Christ and are baptized into His death and resurrection. What seems to the world a sad tragedy is, in fact, a great victory. What the world views as a tortured victim is the God of Hosts. What to the world seems to be a day of immense sorrow, the Christian must recognize as a day of triumph. Yes, we should ponder the cost paid, the sacrifice given; yet we must also see the “good” on Good Friday. For, without the cross, there is only death. Because of the battle waged on the cross, death is vanquished.

     Today, as we behold the wood of the cross, we rightly fall to our knees at the cost paid for our sins. We should lovingly kiss and revere the sacrifice as we would walk any battlefield in somber remembrance. We too must recall that a mighty warrior once did battle here and achieved a great victory.

     Today, as we ponder the sacrifice on the cross, recall that we also have a cross which we must take up. Though the Hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers” has sadly fallen out of favor, it clearly expresses our mission on this battlefield.

At the name of Jesus; Satan’s host doth flee;

On then, Christian soldiers; On to victory!

Hell’s foundations quiver; At the shout of praise

Brothers, lift your voices; Loud your anthems raise!

Like a mighty army; Moves the Church of God:

Brothers, we are treading; Where the saints have trod;

We arе not divided; All one Body we

Onе in faith and Spirit; One eternally

Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war;

With the cross of Jesus; Going on before …

(author’s truncated version from Bean)

     For us, the entire world has become both a battlefield and the road to Emmaus. We too have a cross we must take up on which to fight with courage, sacrifice, and perseverance. We do not take up this cross in despair and sadness, but with a sense of triumph. We have a mighty warrior by our side. Victory is never in doubt. As we hear our Lord utter the words, “It is finished,” in the Gospel today, we must find a hint of joy. With these words, Jesus is telling us, telling the Father; “mission accomplished!” It is an incredibly “good” Friday.

End Notes:

Bean, George. (n.d.). Onward, Christian Soldiers. Genius. https://genius.com/George-bean-onward-christian-soldiers-lyrics .

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (NRSVCE). Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993. Print.

Weathers, F. (2015, June 8). Because christ is a warrior (then, so am I). Why I Am Catholic. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2011/05/because-christ-is-a-warrior-then-so-am-i.html