Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42
The prophet Isaiah once spoke of a mysterious servant.
A servant who suffers.
Not for his own sins— but for the sins of others.
“He had done no violence,” the prophet says.
Yet he carries the wounds of the world.
Through his suffering many will be made righteous.
Christians hear those words and immediately recognize the face of Jesus.
The story of this day moves through gardens.
In the first garden— Eden— humanity betrayed God.
Trust was broken. Sin entered the world.
In another garden— Gethsemane— Jesus is betrayed.
A disciple arrives with soldiers and torches.
A kiss becomes the sign of betrayal.
But the story does not end there.
The final victory will also take place in a garden—
where a new tomb waits in silence.
During the trial truth and denial stand face to face.
When the soldiers ask, “Are you Jesus of Nazareth?”
Jesus answers:
“I AM.”
At the same moment Peter stands nearby and says:
“I am not.”
Two voices. Two answers.
One reveals the truth. The other hides from it.
Yet Peter is not the only one who turns away.
Pilate condemns a man he knows is innocent.
The high priests cry out:
“We have no king but Caesar.”
The King of Israel stands before them—
and they reject him.
Two high priests meet on this day.
One according to the old priesthood.
The other according to the order of Melchizedek.
One is sinful. The other is without sin.
One twists the truth.
The other reveals it.
One says:
“It is better that one man die for the people.”
The other shows what true love means—
to lay down one’s life for others.
Pilate asks a famous question:
“What is truth?”
The question is asked while truth stands before him.
Pilate has power to release Jesus.
Or to crucify him.
Yet he himself is not free.
He is bound by fear, by politics, by the machinery of empire.
Still, without knowing it, he proclaims a message to the world.
Above the cross he writes:
“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
The words appear in three languages—
Aramaic, Greek, and Latin.
A message for every nation.
“Behold the man.”
The first man was created on the sixth day.
On another sixth day a second man stands beaten and disfigured.
The Lamb of God hangs on the cross at the very hour when the Passover lambs are sacrificed.
Then his side is pierced.
Blood and water flow out.
A new fountain is opened—
a fountain that cleanses the world.
The work is finished.
The Son has completed the mission given by the Father.
And through that obedience he becomes
the source of eternal salvation.
Evening falls.
The body of Jesus is placed in a tomb.
Mary waits.
The disciples wait.
The world holds its breath.
But this is not the end.
In the garden another morning is already preparing.
And the gardener is about to surprise us all.
Let us wait for the eighth day—
the day of the Lord.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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