I speak to you today in the name of God, Father (+), Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Good Friday.

 

A very bright young person in Neil’s Harbour once asked me a very important question during one of our Church School classes.  “If Good Friday was the day that Jesus died, what makes it so “good”?”

 

A wonderful question, one filled with the innocence and wisdom that comes from only one source – a child.  Jesus tells us that unless we become like a child we will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

Well that child got me thinking about this day we call “Good Friday.”  What is so “good” about this day?  Why do we call it by that odd name?

 

Today, I would like to share with you why I believe this day is called “Good.”

 

Off the top of my head, when faced with this wonderful question I answered in a very simplistic way.  I have studied the English language a little bit and I have learned where this term has come from.  We say “Good Friday” in the same way that we say “Good-bye.”  Good-bye comes from an old phrase – God be with ye.  It was a blessing extended between friends meant to guard them against the enemy.  So it was with Good Friday – God’s Friday, the day that Jesus died.

 

But I have been doing a lot of thinking about my answer lately and, while this is a satisfactory answer, I feel there is something more, something deeper to this God’s Friday, this Good Friday.

 

On this day we gather in sombre silence and we retell the story of Jesus’ betrayal and death.  On this day we gather in mourning for the death of our Lord Jesus.  It is a moving day, a day of great emotion and great self-examination.

 

Good Friday.

 

On this day we are faced with the true humanity of Jesus.  At the age of 33 he was cruelly put to death… and for what?

 

Many times when a young person has died the family inevitably asks, “Why did this happen?”  And I, as an ordained person, have no answer to this question.  It is hard to look at a grieving mother and say, “I don’t know.”  This answer does not help in the least; in fact at times it often makes things much worse.

 

For we all need to put our finger on the reasons of life, and when we are faced with the mystery of death we do not like the answers we find there.

 

Mary, the mother of our Lord, must have been asking that very same question.  The apostles and the other disciples must have been asking that very same question as they gazed upon the agony that Jesus was suffering on the cross.  “Why is this happening?”

 

Mary and the Beloved Disciple stood at the foot of the cross, helpless and confused.  Yet, through the pain, through the agony, Jesus was able to help them, to give them hope for the future.

 

From the agony of the cross Jesus cares so much for his mother that he draws himself up and speaks.

 

Jesus says, “Behold your son,” to Mary not to draw her attention to his suffering but to show her the way to cope through her mourning – he was directing her to let the Beloved Disciple care for her.  To look not on his suffering but to take care of her self.  There, from the wood of the cross, hanging upon nails of iron Jesus forms what we have come to call the church.

 

Jesus is telling his mother that life will go on.  In her darkest hour, as she watches her son’s life ebb away he reminds her that all is not lost.  Jesus creates that great mystery that is the church so that we may care for each other throughout our lives.  So that we can be a support to each other in our times of need, grief, mourning, and sorrow.  While hanging from the wood of the cross on nails of iron Jesus forms our community.  A community that is not afraid to see past our own pain and suffering to help others through their pain and suffering and thereby relieve our own.

 

Good Friday.

 

This day is a day for us to come to terms with why Jesus was crucified. 

 

In my times of contemplation I have found that there is something of a poet in me and I have written a poem based on how why Jesus suffered and I would like to share it with you today.

 

Joy of Christ

 

The Joy of Christ is wonderful.

You, God, gave Him to us. You, God,

gave us Joy and we nailed It to a Cross.

 

Jesus told us Who He was.

We listened, nodded our heads,

"Yes, yes, we understand," and we nailed It to a Cross.

 

Jesus gave us a rule of life.

Love was how to live.

We listened, nodded our heads, and we nailed It to a Cross.

 

Jesus could not be out done.

He loved us so much He would not let the grave hold Him.

We would not believe Him because we had nailed Him to a Cross.

 

The Joy of the Risen Christ is beautiful.

You, Gracious God, sent Him to us,

and we try to understand why we nailed Him to a Cross.

 

To share in the Glory of Reigning Jesus

is what You want from Your servants

but we are not worthy of that because we nailed It to a Cross.

 

Now the shadow of that Cross looks down on us.

Jesus stands over It with fivefold wounds

and forgives us, even though we nailed Him to a Cross.

 

For you see, my friends, it was you and I who drove the nails in to Jesus.  It was you and I who crucified Jesus.  Jesus took upon himself our sin.  All sin, for all time, he took it upon himself, and he left them nailed to the wood of the cross.

 

Good Friday.

 

Every time we turn away from God, every time we ignore the teachings of Jesus, every time we refuse to see justice done, every time we fool ourselves into believing that we are not sinners then we are holding the hammer that drives the nails into his flesh, we are holding the spear that pierces his heart, we are crucifying Jesus.

 

Yet, even through all that Jesus forgives!  He suffers for each and every one of us, for you and for me.  He suffers in the hope that we will turn from our wickedness and live.

 

We must be bold and risk something extremely difficult, if the suffering of Jesus is to have any meaning at all – we must be truthful with ourselves and admit that we are sinners in need of Jesus’ help.  When we do that, when we look into the mirror and honestly say, “I am a sinner, God help me!”  Then we will be on the journey that leads to the resurrection.

 

Jesus had to die so that he could rise again.  There is no Easter without Good Friday, there is no new life without repentance, and there is no resurrection without death.  If we are brave enough to do it then we can reach out and take for our selves the great benefits of Jesus’ passion – the salvation of our souls!

 

Blessed are the wounds that Jesus suffered for me!  Blessed are those who know they are saved through those wounds!

 

Good Friday is “good” because in the course of it we journey through the pain of self-examination so that we may die to what is evil within ourselves and be reborn in holiness and righteousness because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

 

Good Friday.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.