Good Friday - April 6, 2012
John 19:17 - 30
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
I'm finding this morning that when I try to think deeply about the cross and crucifixion, I get confused. I'm not able to sort it out. Most of the theologies to which I've subscribed have simplified answers about the cross, answers that are shortened to fit into song lyrics and that become cliches. Through my own experiences, I learned that if you just repeated some of them enough, you wouldn't have to deal with them in your real life. You could say them and sing them and when life got difficult, stamp them on the difficulties and believe everything would be better because his one person died "for me".
I recognize my tendency -- and probably yours, too -- to read the texts through the lens of my own particular theological position (we all have one, after all!). So if I want the crucifixion to be about certain things, I can almost certainty ascribe to a theological system that will support me.
On this Friday morning, I see a man hanging from a crossed beam of wood. What would lead him there? What makes the death of this one person different from the countless -- and lesser known -- deaths and injustices that occur in our violent world every day? What does this death mean for people all over the world, many of whom have never heard his name?
And what makes this Friday "Good"?
The theologies in which I've been trained have mostly seen Jesus' death by crucifixion as a transaction, as Jesus appeasing God, dying for others, in the place of the rest of humanity. It was portrayed in those theological systems as a kind of business deal in which Jesus was bargaining with God for human souls. Or it was portrayed as a courtroom drama where one human was sentenced in the place of all the others.
A transaction may be good and necessary; but also, it may distract us from being transformed by this event. So I wonder how this crucifixion is about transformation, that is, the shaping of the human soul? More than a heavenly business deal that trickles down to the rest of us, how does this death on a cross shape my life and deepen my connection with God in a way that makes a difference in my life-world?
I stop just now to look at what I'm writing . . . I'm stumbling, mumbling through this, because I'm trying to put words to a limitless mystery. I'm trying to ask questions about something that cannot be explained, only lived into.
I don't really know how to talk about it. So I look. I notice. I pay attention to what comes up within me, and I invite God to shape my life through what happened to Jesus at his death.
For today . . . just notice the man on the cross. Imagine the scene in your mind. As best you can, lay aside your theological predispositions about what it means. Just notice him there. And invite God to show you what his death means for you.
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
I'm finding this morning that when I try to think deeply about the cross and crucifixion, I get confused. I'm not able to sort it out. Most of the theologies to which I've subscribed have simplified answers about the cross, answers that are shortened to fit into song lyrics and that become cliches. Through my own experiences, I learned that if you just repeated some of them enough, you wouldn't have to deal with them in your real life. You could say them and sing them and when life got difficult, stamp them on the difficulties and believe everything would be better because his one person died "for me".
I recognize my tendency -- and probably yours, too -- to read the texts through the lens of my own particular theological position (we all have one, after all!). So if I want the crucifixion to be about certain things, I can almost certainty ascribe to a theological system that will support me.
On this Friday morning, I see a man hanging from a crossed beam of wood. What would lead him there? What makes the death of this one person different from the countless -- and lesser known -- deaths and injustices that occur in our violent world every day? What does this death mean for people all over the world, many of whom have never heard his name?
And what makes this Friday "Good"?
The theologies in which I've been trained have mostly seen Jesus' death by crucifixion as a transaction, as Jesus appeasing God, dying for others, in the place of the rest of humanity. It was portrayed in those theological systems as a kind of business deal in which Jesus was bargaining with God for human souls. Or it was portrayed as a courtroom drama where one human was sentenced in the place of all the others.
A transaction may be good and necessary; but also, it may distract us from being transformed by this event. So I wonder how this crucifixion is about transformation, that is, the shaping of the human soul? More than a heavenly business deal that trickles down to the rest of us, how does this death on a cross shape my life and deepen my connection with God in a way that makes a difference in my life-world?
I stop just now to look at what I'm writing . . . I'm stumbling, mumbling through this, because I'm trying to put words to a limitless mystery. I'm trying to ask questions about something that cannot be explained, only lived into.
I don't really know how to talk about it. So I look. I notice. I pay attention to what comes up within me, and I invite God to shape my life through what happened to Jesus at his death.
For today . . . just notice the man on the cross. Imagine the scene in your mind. As best you can, lay aside your theological predispositions about what it means. Just notice him there. And invite God to show you what his death means for you.
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