Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday…Not Just a Catholic Thing

*Warning: This post is slightly longer than intended. Read on though – it will do you good! ☺

Many reading this blog are new to Good Friday. For many, when they hear Good Friday, the immediate thought is, “that’s a ‘Catholic thing.’” Well, I’m here to tell you that it is so much more than that – it is a Christ-follower thing. And therefore, it’s a thing for you.

Roman Catholics have made many mistakes and done many things wrong over the years: The Crusades, indulgences, The Inquisition, Mariology, and that’s not to mention some of the many contemporary problems that plague the Roman church, such as clergy abuse scandals, to name only one. We are right to be critical of these things. (But remember, some of these things are our history too, as Protestants trace their theological roots to Roman Catholicism. And, we too have many, many problems, including clergy abuse scandals – we just aren’t as organized and therefore don’t get as much publicity.) And yet, these things do not define, but rather they mar the Roman Catholic Church. Personally, I have many Roman Catholic friends and acquaintances that put my faith and life to shame. I admire them, and their faith. And yes, I disagree with them on certain points as well! But this is not a defense of Roman Catholicism. Rather, I want to say a little about the importance of Good Friday.

Good Friday has been faithfully practiced by the church for as long as there has been a Church. Remember that movie The Passion? (I don’t recommend watching it more than once….) Well, it’s a version of the travelling passion plays that early followers of Jesus would put on in order to share the Gospel. In fact, many scholars believe that some of the gospel narratives in the NT (Mark in particular) are descendant from these early travelling evangelistic shows. The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church (in all its variants), the Anglican Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Methodist Church, all faithfully remember and celebrate Good Friday each year. And yes, that means that John Wesley would have personally officiated or participated in many such services. These services were essential to the early Methodists who pursued religious revival through their Methodist bands, or small groups. Good Friday has a long, rich, history, that for some is celebrated each year, and for some, like many of us, is being rediscovered out of the depths of our ecclesial heritage.

Put simply, Good Friday is the day each year, when Christians around the world remember the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Truly this was the darkest day in history. Jesus – the Messiah – the Christ – our Savior – was murdered, and not just by the Romans, and not just by the Jews, but rather it was both – Jew and Gentile alike that killed Jesus on that fateful day. In other words, all of humanity participated, and so, “all we like sheep have turned away, each has turned to her own way, and the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all upon Him” - we all have blood on our hands. So far, not so good, huh?

And yet, this is precisely what is so good about Good Friday. The day itself would have been terrifying, painful, confusing, or worse. Saturday, would have possibly been even worse still. But then came Sunday, and when that stone was rolled away, and the Angel of the Lord appeared to the two Marys the events of Friday were put into context, and that context was good – it was very good.

On Good Friday, we learn that God, who is not the creator of darkness, can nonetheless use darkness – even the darkest darkness – to bring about the most radiant light. My hope is that if you’re willing to embrace the darkness of Good Friday (Ash Wednesday is sort of a primer for Good Friday…..) then you will be able to better understand and appreciate the Light of Life that shines out for all to see on Easter Sunday.

Church, we have no choice, if we are to truly call ourselves followers of Christ, but to go with Him to the cross, and into the darkness. We do that today – but we do so, fortunately, with the knowledge that the darkness cannot and did not hold Him – and that means it cannot and will not hold us either! And that is very Good indeed!

No comments:

Post a Comment