Good Friday.  Hey, there.  How you doin’?  You have often confused me, as it wasn’t until adulthood that I realized why we called you “Good.”  Perhaps a more appropriate adjective could have been chosen to describe the events of the day.  Yes, I know that ultimately it WAS “good,” but c’mon.  It took A LOT to get to the “good” part.  Maybe it should have been called “Bad to Good” Friday… or “Wait for it to get Good” Friday… or “Trust me, it gets BETTER” Friday.

I mean, the words to describe the crucifixion are some of the most graphic words ever written.  They are bold, they are sad, they are gory.  They conjure up an image that I wish I could not see; and  I feel sick over the torture that Jesus endured.  But, I feel as if it is my “duty” as a Christian to “feel” for it.  THIS is what relieves us from our imperfections.  THIS is what saves us.  And, boy, we ain’t even close to worthy of it.

The story of The Last Supper leaves me with hope.  SO, why  then doesn’t the story of His crucifixion?  The supper, surrounded by friends, is more pleasant.  It has a warm feeling, even though the inevitable loomed… and even though He was still trying to get people to believe Him.  The story of the cross leaves me sick.  It leaves me uncomfortable.  It leaves me with a visual I wish I could not see.  It leaves me wishing that the story ended with bread and wine… and faith.

If the story stopped there, then this “Good” Friday would not be good at all.  We wait, we read on, hoping for a happy ending.  We are human, and it is in our nature to want those happy endings.

Still, I cannot shake the visual… I cannot unhear the written words… and I cannot help but mourn for the moments of suffering he endured.  The physical pain, the taunting and the mocking… all as he lay there perpendicular to the earth… are too much to imagine.

As it happens, we are experiencing Holy Week this year in the midst of a Pandemic.  An epic situation drapes across the world.  We are absent from the pews, but we (as Christians) are drawn closer to the story…  we should be, at least.  We are suffering, yet we are filled with hope.  We believe in tomorrow, even with the dramatic story of today.  We are parallel to what this week represents in humanity and our God.

THIS is why we believe.  THIS is what our beliefs rest upon.  THIS is faith.  THIS is our salvation.  THIS is our crooked cross laid before us.

Read the bible story.  Feel the words.  See the image.  Trust in tomorrow.

FOR THE LOVE of God, don’t give up hope.  Remember your “last” supper with friends… the times in which we able to enjoy life in fellowship with one another.  Our stories do not stop with that memory.  Those memories are what lead us to believe in the rest of the story.

Hang on tight, people.  We will fellowship again.  We will break bread together.  And, you can bet your a** I’ll be drinking wine.

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God.  He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

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