Good Friday. What a strange way to describe the day Jesus was publicly executed as a criminal of the Empire and religious heretic. The one who came to save, liberate and restore…dead.
For Good Friday to be “good” presumes that we know Resurrection is coming on Sunday. Hindsight is 2020 when we know the end of the story.
But, we can’t help but wonder if those who had given their lives to follow Jesus would have described this day as anything other than a horrific disaster.
A failed story.
A hopeless sham.
A leaderless movement.
These women and men had given their lives, reputations and resources to a whole new way of being in the world. A world where dignity was found in everyone. Where swords were laid down in exchange for creative love.
Could they still believe this to be true?
Maybe this community was starting to come to terms with the reality that the peace Jesus talked about wasn’t waged with a sword, but a cross. That their liberation wasn’t found in conquering the enemy, but in refusing to be enemies in the first place. That death wasn’t to be feared, but embraced with the hope of a future.
But, would they have said this Crucifixion Friday was “Good?” Not a chance.
Many of us woke up today with this kind of sorrow inhabiting our heart, minds and bodies. Living in the pandemic stirs up so much pain, fear and uncertainty that we can’t simply skip past the tragedy of the moment with the hope of Sunday. It’s not only ok to be sad, it’s a necessary journey toward embracing our humanity.
God knows our pain and isn’t asking us to skip over it.
We are in a “Friday” world and we honestly don’t know when “Sunday” is coming. Yet, we press on and in. We live sacrificially, we are generous with ourselves (and our quarantine mates!) and we choose to participate in the glimpses of restoration that might peak through the darkness.
Maybe the best thing we can “do” today is stand and cry at the cross together.