Passion Week: Good Friday
Walking with Jesus through Passion Week
March 29, 2024 — Joshua Spence
Dark clouds roll in overhead unhindered. The sun sets against the backdrop of the city and refuses to rise again. Birds have strangely grown quiet, the sounds of joy and bustling in the city streets have grown dim, and the warmth of the sun-kissed architecture and buildings have turned cold, damp, and lonely. The Hour of the Power of Darkness has come. (Luke 22:53)
As the disciples scatter and Jesus is led away from the Garden of Gethsemane, hope seems to fade from our story. The Son of heaven has seemingly been abandoned and now has fallen into the hands of the enemy. The shepherd has been struck and sheep have scattered. Then, as He is taken away to stand before the withering accusation of the Sanhedrin, Peter, his friend, denies ever knowing Him (Luke 22:54-71). Jesus is alone. His friends have betrayed Him. The hour has come for the Father to glorify the Son (John 17:1).
Pilate tries to release Jesus, even sending Him to Herod (Luke 23:6-12). He holds a trial, scourges Jesus, and even offers His release over Barabas, but ultimately, he bends to the wickedness of man and gives over Jesus to those with “blood on their hands” (Matthew 27:24-26). In the darkest moment of human history when all seemed lost, mankind accused God of the sin for which we were guilty.
Jesus is mocked, shamed, and forced to carry upon his own back that very thing which will end his life: the cross. The road is long to hilltop Golgotha, the way dusty. There is nothing left now for Jesus other than to complete that which He was born for; He was born to die.
It is at the cross that we see love put fully on display. This is love’s most sacred moment. What is life if not to lay down one’s life for one’s friends? (John 15:13) There is no greater love than this. Jesus has taken upon himself the weight we cannot bear for ourselves. For while we were weak in our own sin, lost in our transgressions, disgraced by our iniquity, Jesus bore our cross, bore love upon His back, and suffered on our behalf as our friend. Even as He dies, Jesus sees His mother, the woman who bore Him and loved Him and he places John as her son to care for her (John 19:26-27).
It is in this moment that Jesus cries for our forgiveness (Luke 23:34), searches the heart of His Father (Mark 15:34), and gives up His Spirit so that we might live (Luke 23:46). And in the face of this terribly wonderful moment, no words can be uttered other than that of the Centurion, “Truly, this man was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).
There are few moments in human history that carry the weight of sadness and the expectancy of joy like Good Friday does. It is the day of the height of human sin. It is the day of the height of God’s plan for humanity. It is the day that the old world dies and a new one is born in its place. For the veil was torn and now God has come to dwell with man! No longer are we separated according to our sins, but rather, we have been given a free gift which beckons us to come. The darling of Heaven, crucified, has made a way for us to be with Him, as His friends, forever.
Love incarnate, Jesus Christ, the very son of the living God, died on this day so that others might live. Praise be to God! Agnus Dei - The Lamb of God slain before the foundations of the world (Revelation 13:8). Praise be to God!
“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. Christ died once for our sins, that he might bring us to God. We have been sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus crucified, have mercy on us.” (The Twelfth Station of the Cross)
