When Good Friday is Just a Bus Stop, Easter Sunday is the Destination
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18: 1-19: 42
When morning after morning someone greets you “good morning,” “bonjour” or “buenas dias,” you need to ask: what makes the day good? Even when one did not sleep well, the greeting is still “good morning.” A hungry person with rumbling stomach and an employee whose salary has not been paid, they are all greeted “good morning”. Those sent to hospital at night and battling for their lives in the hospital receive the same greeting – good morning! Why not greet people on the basis of their moods like “bad morning” or “sick morning” or “survival morning”? For us Christians, Jesus is the reason for the “good day” and “good morning”. Everyday is “good” because of “Good Friday”. As Christians, we are a resurrected people, thanks to Jesus’ Good Friday.
A Christian does not live in the past, but always in the future. What is happening here and now is only relevant because of its links to the future. The past is what it is “past” and gone, nothing more. No matter what a Christian is going through, his/her mood swings, the ups and downs of life, every morning remains “good morning” and every news is “good news”. What would have been “bad news,” “bad morning” and “frustrated day” is already past and over with. “Good Friday” tells the tale of the cross, the path to victory to come. The “Friday” is “good” because of Jesus, not because of the cross. The acceptance of the cross is what changes the meaning of the cross and makes it “Good Friday”. Every rejected cross makes each day a “bad day” or a “bad Friday”.
Jesus’ Good Friday is also our Good Friday because it provides us with the coping mechanism required for our everyday lives. Each time we think that our world is crashing on us, our dignity abused, our integrity impugned and our love compromised, we look up to the Cross of Christ and see that we are not alone, and we look forward to Easter Sunday for the strength and stamina to realize that victory is ahead! However, Jesus’ Good Friday is different from ours in a significant way – he accepted his cross; on our part, we try to cut corners, we negotiate our crosses with God. We blame God and others for our perceived failures; we try to change our crosses thinking that we have what it takes to weather the storm that comes with a different scenario rather than the present reality that is ours. We sometimes believe that being wealthy will solve all our problems, but barrenness sets in with our wealth and we accuse God for our sterility. We sometimes have many children and we blame God for not giving us money to train them properly. We give and take bribes to elect wrong people into office, and we complain about our economic woes. We destroy the future of our children with indiscipline and we complain that they are irresponsible and rascally. Indeed, we forget that what goes around comes around.
Our first reading starts out on a note of hope and optimism: “See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted” (Isaiah 52:13). Notice that it is not Good Friday that comes first, it is the assurance of a victory that serves as a panacea for present woes. Imagine what the reconstruction of this human face would look like: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). In our age where beauty and handsomeness are celebrated, and good human shape adored, who will accept to be painted as Isaiah describes? Better still, hear what Isaiah says of the character of such a person bereft of beauty and handsomeness: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). This type of person is rare to find, when I complain about the heat of Nigeria with the lack of electricity that transforms air conditioners and fans into objects of decoration instead of technologies to make life more comfortable!
Our “Friday” is “Good” because there are a lot of dividends accruing to human beings from Jesus’ Good Friday. Human beings receive both forgiveness of sins and a guarantee of eternal life. Our first reading puts it this way: “If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him. . . through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear” (Isaiah 53:10-11). Interestingly, it seems that all the woes of this servant of God are transformed into a force for good, not for himself, but others – you and I. In other words, the “Friday” is “Good” because someone else, besides the sufferer, is the beneficiary of his suffering. It comes across like the sacrifices of good parents to secure and guarantee a good future for their children. Although the future is uncertain, parents take a chance on it and invest in it because of their children. Like all workers, they take a chance to save for their retirements, whether they will live to see retirement is a different story but they invest in it all the same.
As Christians, the fruits of Good Friday are already evident today – the Resurrection. Our religion is historically verifiable, it is not a myth. Jesus was a historical human being, he did die and rise from the dead. Christians are not afraid of death because Jesus proves that the resurrection follows every death, even if it is not on the third day. Jesus teaches as well that life is only worth living when we live for him and for others, not just for ourselves. The meaning of live is to be found in dying for the other and not in killing the other. Even here and now, Jesus remains an intercessor for us in heaven: “Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
The attitude of an authentic Christian towards the cross is joy and optimism. We see it in Jesus’ statement at the point of his arrest, according to our gospel, today: “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?” (John 18:10) In human suffering, Christians must look beyond the cause of suffering to see the blessings that come from it. We must realize that “‘Good Friday’ is Just a Bus Stop, Easter Sunday is the Destination”. No sane person remains at the bus except to catch a bus. It is when our gaze remains indomitably fixed on Easter Sunday that every morning will be “good morning” and every “Good Friday” a bus stop on the path to Easter Sunday – the Resurrection Day!