What an odd name to give this day; Good Friday. It may be difficult for us to see the good in a day that commemorates such a horrendous death. Knowing that this is Act II of the drama unfolding before us, we might be inclined to even fast forward to Easter morning rather than dwell on the reality of what happened so long ago on the hill known as Golgotha.
We have no clue how long Jesus hung on the cross before he said, “It is finished.” According to John, those were Jesus’ last words. None of us have any idea what our last words will be when the appointed moment of our death arrives. Perhaps the moment will come unexpectedly as it did for my father when he died of a heart attack or we might be unable for any number of reasons to speak what is on our mind. But should we be blessed with the chance to say any last words, would we or could we say what Jesus did? His dying words suggest not an air of defeat, but of victory. Having accomplished what he had set out to do, he was now ready to go home to his Father.
To some degree, what we say would depend on how ready we are to cross that threshold we call death. Undoubtedly a fair number of us might be afraid to. We don’t want to let go of what is familiar, our loved ones and our surroundings, to venture into the unknown. At that moment, our faith could very well be tested to the limit. Do we really believe that there will be new life on the other side? Do we really believe that some day we will as Jesus did, rise from the dead? Do we really believe that a heavenly banquet awaits us? As the moment nears, will we have second thoughts about what we have believed in all these years?
Unlike other animals, we know that someday we will die. That is Adam and Eve’s gift to us along with sin. By eating of the tree of knowledge, they became aware of those realities. What they didn’t know is what happens once they would die. When they introduced death and sin into our world, they also ushered in fear, which has gripped humanity ever since.
That was Jesus’ mission; to rid our world of fear so that at our appointed moment, we would have no reason to be afraid. Looking back over the story of his passion, you can tell that Jesus had no fear of dying. He never let any fear of death overpower him. Not once did he curse his fate.
Jesus defeated death by embracing it. He didn’t let fear and its many forms control his decision. He rejected the urge to turn his back on his Father or to mistrust him. This act of faith enabled Jesus to atone for all the sins of the human race, including yours and mine. No wonder then that he could say, “It is finished.” He had triumphed over Satan. He did what had to be done to save us from sin. His death on the cross was and remains the ultimate sacrifice.
Unlike Adam, who tried to live apart from God, Jesus surrendered his life completely to his Father. The good news for us is this; his death means life for us! Everlasting life! And that means freedom from fear. Because of what Jesus did, nothing can separate us from the love of God in this lifetime and the lifetime to come. This is why we call this day good.
May we see what happened on the cross not as a folly, but as an example to follow, doing what we can, each in our own way, to conquer sin with acts of love, so that when the time comes for us to stand before God, we too can proudly say, “It is finished,” having done what we could each in our own way in our lifetime to build his kingdom.