Good Friday Reflection

Due to the inclement weather on this second day of spring, we have elected not to have our Good Friday Experience this evening. Instead, I have posted a reflection that contains some of the thoughts and reflections that we were going to talk through this evening. God bless!

For Christians today, it is virtually impossible to talk about the crucifixion without simultaneously thinking about the resurrection. We know that death isn’t really death…out of death, life. But for today, Good Friday, our goal is to try to forget that we know how the story ends.

Today, we are going to explore abandonment, loneliness, the absence of God. It is a moment when we experience for ourselves Christ’s cry on the cross. It is a moment when we ourselves feel abandoned by God and alone in the world. That day is always a little closer than we are comfortable with, as we have all experienced the unsettling feeling of abandonment, when perhaps everything we believe is empty words and hopeless dreams. This is the tragedy of the cross…not just the suffering of an innocent man…but the removal, the absence of God.

For Reflection: When have you felt lonely, alone, abandoned? When have you felt that even God didn’t care?

Read Matthew 26:36-46

Poem: The Sins of the Father

I was hungry for love, and you ignored me
I was thirsty for encouragement but all I received was criticism
I was naked - ashamed with no self worth; you couldn’t even look at me
I felt like a stranger in a strange land – you did not make me feel at home
I was sick with depression, and all I felt was your condemnation
I was in the prison of the soul, and you were silent
I tried to sing, but my songs did not touch you
I spilt out my inky soul onto pages, but you would never read a word
You were there, but all I felt was absence
Your presence was my desert
The image of you tormented me, for it became a memorial
A reminder of love’s privation
The absent father, who was there, but was not there
Cursed are you in your abstraction - for there you can mean nothing to me
I remember that day I sat down in front of you
And asked you to say that you loved me
For any father should love his child
But you just looked back at me blankly…
…you made a bastard out of me.

Read Matthew 27:11-16

Put yourself in the crowd as you respond to Pilate's questions:

Pilate: “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
Me: Barabbas!
Pilate: “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”
Me: Barabbas!
Pilate: “But he is a criminal.”
Me: Barabbas!
Pilate: “A thief.”
Me: Barabbas!
Pilate: “A troublemaker.”
Me: Barabbas!
Pilate: “He cares nothing for you!”
Me: Barabbas!
Pilate: “I don’t understand!”
Me: Barabbas!

Pilate: “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “Why? What crime has he committed?”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “But he is an innocent man!”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “He is your king!”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “Your Lord!”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “He heals the sick!”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “He raises the dead!”
Me: Crucify him!
Pilate: “I don’t understand!”
Me: Crucify him!

Pilate: “I am innocent of this man’s blood. It is your responsibility.”
Me: Let his blood be on us and on our children!
Pilate: “Do you know what you are saying?”
Me: Let his blood be on us and on our children!
Pilate: “You will carry this weight?”
Me: Let his blood be on us and on our children!
Pilate: “You will carry this guilt?”
Me: Let his blood be on us and on our children!
Pilate: “You have said it. Let it be so.”

Reflection: How many times have we chosen Barabbas over Jesus? A person. A secret sin. A cherished possession. An unspoken longing. Reputation. Prestige. Each of us has a Barabbas. And each of us has willingly placed his blood on our hands. What have you chosen today in place of Jesus?

Read Matthew 27:27-50


Reflection: Sit for a few minutes and think about Jesus' loneliness. Abandoned by his friends. Abandoned by God. Abandoned by you. Alone.

Court Case

In a world where following Christ is decreed a subversive and illegal activity you have been arrested and brought before a court.

The prosecution has quite a case against you. They begin by offering the judge dozens of photographs which show you attending church meetings, speaking at religious events and participating in various prayer and worship services. Next they present a few of the religious books that you own, followed by some of your worship CDs and Christian artifacts. After this they step up the pace and present many of the poems, pieces of prose and journal entries that you have written about faith. Then in closing the prosecution offers your bible to the judge. This is a well-worn book with scribbles, notes, drawings and underling throughout, evidence, if it were needed, that you had read and re-read this sacred text many times.

Throughout the case you have been sitting silently in fear and trembling. You know deep in your heart that, with the evidence amassed against you, you face the possibility of a long imprisonment or even death. At various times throughout the proceedings you have been on the verge of standing up and denying Christ. But while this thought has haunted your mind you resist the temptation and remain focused.

Once the prosecution has finished presenting their case the judge proceeds to ask if you have anything to add, but you remain silent and resolute, terrified that if you open your mouth you would deny the charges made against you. After a few moments of silence you are led away while the judge ponders your case.

The hours pass slowly as you wait to be summoned back. Eventually a guard appears and leads you into the courtroom in order to hear the verdict and receive word of your punishment. The judge enters the room, stands before you, looks deep into your eyes and begins to speak,

“Of the charges that have been brought forward I find the accused not guilty”.

“Not guilty”, your heart freezes. Then, in a split second, the fear and terror that had moments before threatened to strip your resolve is transformed into confusion and rage. Despite your fear, you stand before the judge and demand that he tell you why you are innocent of the charges in light of all the evidence.

“What evidence” he replies in shock.

“What about the poems and prose that I wrote?”

“They simply show that you think of yourself as a poet.”

“But what about the services I spoke at, the times I wept in church and the days that I offered myself for prayer?”

“Evidence that you are a good speaker and actor, nothing more. It is obvious that you fooled those around you, and perhaps even yourself, but this foolishness is not enough to convict you in a court of law”

“But this is madness, no evidence would seem to convince you”

“Not so” replied the judge as if informing me of a great, long forgotten secret,

“The court is indifferent toward your bible reading and church attendance; it has no concern for worship with words and a pen. Continue to develop your theology, and use it to paint pictures of love. We have no interest in such armchair artists who spend their time creating images of a better world. We exist only for those who would lay down that brush, and their life, in a Christ-like endeavor to create it. So then, until you live as Christ and his followers, until you challenge this system and become a thorn in our side, until you die to yourself and offer your body to the flames, until then my friend you are no enemy of ours”.