Reverend Ref +

GOOD FRIDAY
JOHN 19:1-37

Last night was Maundy Thursday, the first day of the Triduum. We remember it as the night Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, and we performed the same act of service to each other. We remember it as the night in which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, and we celebrated the last Eucharist before Easter. We remember it as the night Jesus was betrayed, and we stripped the altar signifying our complicity in pushing him out of our lives.

Today is Good Friday. This is the day in which our Lord was nailed to a cross and hung up to die. This is the day in which our Lord did just that -- he died. This is the beginning of the questions. We spent three years with this guy, and for what? Why do the good people die young? Is it worth it to challenge the authorities like he did? If they killed this guy, are they above killing me? What do we do now?

If you have had the experience of having someone close to you die, you get a little sense of where the disciples were on this day. Your life is turned upside down and there's a void that you don't know if it will ever be filled again. This person played a major role in your life: friend, mentor, teacher, role model, lover, parent, guardian, confidant. Jesus was all of those. Jesus is all of those.

But you also have to remember that this was no ordinary death. He didn't die suddenly. He didn't die from an illness. He didn't die privately in a home. He died slowly, agonizingly, and very publicly. He died where everyone from his friends to his enemies to the curious could come and watch the event. And nobody who loved him could offer the least bit of comfort.

After seeing him whipped, beaten and abused, his friends watched him carry his own cross to Golgotha. When he got there, they watched as his arms were stretched out, and they heard the hammer pound the nails into his arms and feet. They watched him suffer. They heard him say, "It is finished." And they watched him die.

"It is finished." That phrase has always stuck in my mind. It is finished. Did I learn everything I was supposed to learn? If it is finished, what are we supposed to do now? If it is finished, is there any point in continuing? If it is finished, will this group stay together? If it is finished, do we want to stay together?

So many questions, and all of them left unanswered. All we know for sure right now is that Jesus is dead. We are alone. We have nowhere to go.

It is finished. What are you going to do now?