Good Friday

We now enter Part II of the Easter Triduum.  Today, Good Friday, is good for us to take time away from our busy schedules and stand at the foot of the cross and venerate it and witness the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus. 

Timeline...

When did Jesus die on the cross?  Is it at Passover or the day before?  Raise your hands if you think it's at Passover or the day before?  If you said Passover, then you are correct.  If you said the day before Passover, you are also correct.  (Raise your hand if you didn't raise your hand).  John writes that Jesus died the day before, because that is when the Passover lambs were sacrificed in the Temple.  The theme that echoes throughout the gospel of John is Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Passover Seder is the Last Supper, and the lambs have been sacrificed and prepared earlier on the Day of Preparation. But in John, Jesus is crucified on the Day of Preparation. Why does John tell us that Jesus was crucified as the lambs were being slaughtered? Because he wants his readers to see Jesus as a kind of Passover lamb. In John 1:29 he has already introduced this theme when John the Baptist looks at Jesus and announces, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

What else is unique in the Gospel of John is the lance that pierces Jesus side.  Tradition gives a name to the Roman soldier and it is St. Longinus.  

There is a folklore of St Longinus where he was blind and when the he pierced Jesus' heart, blood and water came forth, landed on his eyes and allowed him to see.  If we think how could a blind soldier be in the Roman army, we would be interpreting the story too literally.  Perhaps it is a spiritual blindness that the story is referring to, since the blood and water and the witness of these events opened his eyes, he, who once was spiritual blind and became a convert, he too became a disciple of Jesus. 

There was a priest from Italy, one time, who came to the parish to give a retreat.  And he was a member of the group called Divine Mercy.  So he and his brother priests would focus on communicating the message of Sister Faustina Kowalska and the divine mercy message.  

He shared an interesting insight about the death of Jesus.  He said that when Jesus was pierced on his side, blood and water came forth, and he said that this was considered more heinous than the crucifixion itself, worse than carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem and worse than the scourging, worse than the crowning of thorns, worse than the public humiliation. . . When I first heard that I found it very difficult to believe.  Jesus was already dead when they pierced his side, so he probably didn't feel a thing. 

He explained that it is worse because it is so over the top. They had to ensure that Jesus had truly died.  It would be like the saying: you don't kick a person when they are already down.  When someone is already down, you show mercy to them. 

But in this darkest moment, what came forth was blood and water from his heart.  Many early saints saw the blood and water as representing Baptism and Eucharist.  Baptism gives life to the Christian and Eucharist feeds and sustains that life.  

Blood and water can also have a more earthy example in the case where a mother gives birth to a child, and what comes forth from her womb is blood and water, and so the source of our Christian life is the heart of Jesus.

In this darkest moment on the cross, the piercing of Jesus' heart, comes something great and wonderful for the Church, the two sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist and where we find our Christian origin and food and sustenance for the journey. 

When did the trial of Jesus took place?  It happened not during the day but at nighttime.  It occurred after the last Supper in the Garden of Gethsamane.  And Christ was brought to trial before the high priest Caiphas and the Sanhedrin or Jewish Council.  What kind of trial happens at night, but one that is probably unfair, hurried, rush and very sloppy.   Imagine council members had to wake one another up to prepare for the trial.  It happened at the spur of the moment.  They quickly came to a decision about the accusations towards Jesus.  

A few things worth noting is that Jesus didn't have a defense attorney.  There were witnesses against him, but they were false ones. There was no jury of his peers to examine the evidence and make a decision.  He was all alone and the trial was set to fail from the start.  During the trial, there was much violence done towards Christ.  He was beaten when he gave answers that they did not like. 

The decision ultimately came down to the high priest.  The accusation against Jesus was for blasphemy, because he claims to be the Son of God and equal to God.

But blasphemy was not to be the reason to have someone crucified.  But treason was.  So they had to force Pontius Pilate to have Jesus crucified. If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. 

Although Pilate found Jesus to be innocent, but because of the crowd, he washed his hands and ordered for the crucifixion.

Pilate saw one way out of this mess which is to set Barabbas next to Jesus and ask the people to decide which one to release.  It's interesting because the name Barabbas which means Son of the Father or Son of God.  Do you want me to release for you a man literally named Son of God, or Jesus who is literally Son of God.  But the chief priests and elders got the people to demand that Barabbas be set free and Jesus to be crucified. 

Normally, those would be crucified would be buried in a mass grave or a common grave.  But Jospeh of Arimathea, a secret disciple, ask Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus and gave Jesus a proper burial in a new tomb.  

That concludes the passion story of Jesus.  But we know that by faith, the story doesn't end there.  On the third day, the tomb is empty. Despite the tomb being completely sealed, despite guards being posted at the tomb, the disciples of Jesus discover that the tomb was empty.  That's the good news we celebrate tomorrow.