The Joy of Good Friday

It is noteworthy, that people in large numbers flock to the churches on Good Friday. On this day every Christian goes to church to witness the dramatic reading of the Passion of Christ. It is dramatic because it happened several hundreds years ago, but most people witness it as if it is happening at the moment. Some of us feel the extreme brutality done against a just man, who was indeed a saviour; saviour not only in religious terms but he was a saviour for scores of people suffering the atrocities of the powerful in the time of Jesus in Jerusalem.

Have you wondered like me, why do people flock to Church on Good Friday and not for the Easter Vigil? Easter is a significant event in the life of every Christian, because it is through the mystery of resurrection that Jesus Christ accomplishes the mission of saving us from the bondage of sin and death. Why do we stay at Good Friday or we rather prefer to hear Good Friday stories? We remain in that mood of quietness like the disciples post death of Jesus. The one of the most moving liturgies that inspires me is the liturgy of the Good Friday. It is unique in itself, which by and large projects emptiness or a total sadness. It is not only a public show of Jesus suffering death through stations of the Cross but most importantly it is one’s personal connectedness to the suffering and death of Jesus. I have always had this personal connectedness to the event of Jesus’ suffering and death. This is the only event in the life of Jesus that makes my heart cumbersome, and to be blunt, when Jesus utters those last words “It is Finished” that my heart really melts and my eyes water with grief and mourning. This has been my experience right from my childhood. The reading of the passion is the makes me move with compassion for Jesus.

Two important reflections come to my rescue at this point, firstly, we are a suffering humanity hence Jesus’ suffering and death coincides that of our own suffering and death, secondly, we are moved by the ultimate sacrifice that Christ made on Good Friday for the love that he has for the humanity.

Jesus was divine and human; thence there was a certain amount of tension as how He can speak to the humanity. Christ becoming man materialized the Trinitarian work of salvation. Every human person had to go through suffering and death. Every person had to encounter suffering and death; deal with it. Jesus Christ had to speak the language of humanity despite His divine powers which might have made Him a Son of God right away, but then it would not have had a greater impact. He had to struggle right from His childhood to the Cross. Jesus spoke the ultimate human language of suffering and death. Most of us associate our suffering with that of Christ, hence making us to remain at the foot of the Cross and weep. Some prefer to console themselves by comparing one’s sufferings to that of Christ. This helps one to realize that suffering is not always bad, even Christ, the Son of God had to undergo. Probably this makes us empathize with Christ and subsequently helps one to self empathize. Sometimes it is significant to show our suffering then to supress it, may be on Good Friday it is an opportunity to show one’s own suffering to each other. We might not show it forthrightly but when we participate in Christ’s suffering together as community, we try to express that we are not free of suffering. We try to say to each other that we are on the equal scale when it comes to suffering. Therefore, I think we would like to remain at the foot of the Cross, in other words we would like to remain at Good Friday. It might be awkward for someone to smile in a funeral house; hence one might very well prefer to stay with Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross.

In John’s Gospel we hear the last words of Jesus, “it is finished”; what did Jesus meant by that? This is the one phrase of Jesus tingles my spine. The breath of Jesus left his young and energetic body. Did it really finish?

Pope Benedict has a small extract in the book “Jesus of Nazareth,” in the Greek text, this word finished (tetélestai) points back to the very beginning of the Passion narrative, to the episode of the washing of the feet, which the evangelist introduces by observing that Jesus loved his own “to the end (télos)”. This “end”, this ne plus ultra of loving, is now attained in the moment of death. He has truly gone right to the end, to the very limit and even beyond that limit. He has accomplished the utter fullness of love – he has given himself.

It is an ultimate sacrifice of love for his people. He is like the paschal candle burnt him so that we can have light and life. Throughout the Lent we commemorate the suffering and the death of Christ through Stations of the Cross. I have had most spiritually uplifting experiences during the Stations of the Cross. It is a dramatic witnessing of Christ’s love for us. Subsequently it makes me ask this question, am I willing to give my life for someone else? Easier said than done, it is almost impossible for most of us to die the most brutal death for someone else. It is the ultimate gesture of love. Jesus showed through his own example that he gave everything to the humanity, including his own life. “It is finished” is the most assuring words of Jesus, meaning, that Jesus knows that he has accomplished his mission on earth; Christ showed how to love God and love one’s neighbour. That is why we would like to remain on Good Friday, because of the ultimate gesture of Christ’s love for the humanity.

Remaining on Good Friday makes us not sad persons but makes us realize that we take part in Christ’s suffering and death; Christ had to suffer so that we get life. We remain in that experience of love of Christ sacrifice on the Cross.