Cultivating Rhythms of Remembering in a Hyper-Forgetful World: Good Friday

We observe Good Friday to call to mind the road of suffering that eventually ends with Jesus stripped of his clothes, crowned with thorns, and lifted up on a cross. Why do we commemorate this barbarism as good? Why in the world does the “good, good Father” send his only Son to die a seemingly senseless death? The simple answer is this: because he loves us,  

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)

The good news of God’s love goes against modern convention as we begin to grasp that Jesus becomes the perfect leader not by conquering but by suffering…for us,

Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation (Hebrews 2:9–10)

The good news of God’s love challenges our rational sensibilities, especially when we try to wrap our head around the fact that the Creator of the Cosmos took on human flesh, in a virgin’s womb, only to eventually die to set us free,

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying (Hebrews 2:14–15)

The good news of God’s love contradicts our idea of justice because Jesus was forsaken by God, suffered shame and ridicule, evil and deceit, hate and disdain to bring about God’s justice and healing…for us,

Jesus never sinned,
    nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
    nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
    who always judges fairly.
He personally carried our sins
    in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
    and live for what is right.
By his wounds
    you are healed (1 Peter 2:22–24)

Such is the paradox of God’s Kingdom where life comes from death and true love is born out of mind-boggling sacrifice and utterly undeserved grace. As nonsensical as it sounds, what appears to be a very bad day, turns out to be a very good day indeed.