Word to the Wise
Friday, April 10, 2020 - Good Friday of the Lord's Passion - ABC
[Isa 52:13-53:12; Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42]Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses. [Isaiah]
In the year that Mel Gibson's THE PASSION was released, two student friends from Tulane Catholic Center came over to San Antonio, where I had been recently assigned, to pay me a visit. On Ash Wednesday, we attended a showing of that film. The only thing I could think of as we were leaving the theater afterward was, "He did that for me!"
The powerful words of the Prophet Isaiah, with their eerie description of the suffering endured by the Suffering Servant, make it clear that the suffering is done for the sake of others: Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.
The movie spares few details of the physical suffering. It is graphic to a fault. But if one focuses only on the physical, the meaning of what happened on that day can be lost. Jesus suffered for us - for you and me and for every human who ever lived or will live or is living.
The somber mood of the Good Friday service this year is deepened by the necessity of an empty church because of the coronavirus pandemic. There is worldwide suffering taking place. Those of us who are not ill still suffer with and for the victims as well as for the sacrifices we make to mitigate the pandemic. We suffer for others and not just for ourselves alone. And we can be confident that Jesus fully understands and accompanies us. It is not just a "been there, done that," but AM there, DOING that. When we venerate the cross this evening, having heard Isaiah's words and the powerful passion account from the Gospel According to John, we acknowledge Jesus' suffering for us and we are challenged to add our own to that cross both for ourselves and for all who are suffering. AMEN
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