Yes, today is Good Friday, the day during which many Christians will – unfortunately – dare not impede on their busy schedules to consider the significance of this particular day. Notice the adjective before the noun: “many Christians.” I am not saying that all, or even the majority of Christians fail to observe Good Friday; for I am in no position to make such a blanket statement. But what I am entitled to speak of is my own realm of influence, i.e., the persons residing in the places wherein I myself have spent the last twenty-one years. Sure, we are cognizant of the fact that today, the Friday before Easter, is Good Friday. (Many of us may even have it marked on our calendars!) But is there really a sensed presence among us signifying that this particular day represents something far more profound than any other day we designate as special? Regardless, today is quintessential for Christians: for today signifies that moment in time when our God was put to death.
It is important to note that the symbol of the cross, the device on which he was executed, represents not only the death of Christ, but also his subsequent resurrection. In other words, Good Friday is the beginning of what we will celebrate on Sunday. Had the act of defeating death not occurred, the cross would be a much different symbol; for the paramount implications of the cross lie within the event of the resurrection, not simply the crucifixion. But the cross—that is, Jesus’ death represented in the symbol of the cross—serves as a sort of efficient cause to his resurrection, and therefore has been eternalized as the predominant mark of Christianity.
The Eastern Orthodox Church begins their observance of Good Friday, which they call “The Order of Holy and Saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ,” on Thursday night. During the service, a large cross is placed in the middle of the nave while the priest chants this eloquent canticle:
“Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross.
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.
We venerate Thy Passion, O Christ.
Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.”
For Christians, the doctrine of salvation is the axis around which all other doctrines and personal beliefs revolve. Any time the world “salvation” is uttered in the context of Christianity, there lies within every implication and usage of it an event, a bullet point on the timeline of history that represents the execution of one man. For some, this man was no more than a common first century Jewish radical advocating a counter-position to the Roman ideology. For others, however, he is more than just a dissenter of current-day conventions: he is the savior of all humanity.
It is my prayer today that we would recognize Good Friday not simply as the Friday before Easter, but instead as the day representing that specific moment when all lives were changed.
“His cross stands between our crosses, our Brother’s cross, as a sign that God himself participates in our suffering and takes our pains on himself. The suffering Son of man is so much one of us that the unnumbered and unnamed, tortured and forsaken human beings are his brothers and sisters.” – Jurgen Moltmann
FOR • THE • TIME • BEING 