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Good Friday sans Pretensions


I just don't know why they call it Good Friday. It was a very bad Friday for the mother, siblings, disciples, friends and followers of Jesus. It was the day when Jesus whom they loved so much died at a very tender age at the hands of the Roman army as a criminal. Death brings an end to everything. Their sorrow was much deeper because they had no clue of what is going to happen on the third day. Though he had told them and though they have seen him bringing back dead back to life, they never imagined that he will be back to life. So with no ray of hope, their sorrow was even thicker.

While the people at the foot of the cross on that fateful day were genuinely sad, the people who were observing Good Friday ever since were simply trying to pretend to be sad; because they knew rest of the story already. On Good Friday, some people walk the stations of the Cross enacting the suffering of Christ. They have processions where they enact scenes from what happened to Jesus on that day by taking up the roles of Jesus, Simon the Cyrene, the soldiers or the crowd. Some were fasting on that day. They abstained from food till evening and some would drink bitter juices to identify with the suffering of Jesus. Some devotees allowed themselves to be flogged and even nailed to a cross for a while. Still they were pretending because they knew Easter is just another day away.

However, Good Friday is more than pretensions. Good Friday is a reminder of the place of suffering in Christian faith. On that day 2000 years back Jesus died a terrible death. It is a reminder that my salvation is not cheap but was very costly. It also reminds that there is suffering in Christian life because it begins with the sufferings of Christ. It explains why Christians in many parts of the world face persecution. There is no Christianity without suffering.

We wear a mask of sorrow on that day for the simple reason that we were taught that way. However, for every believer who has experienced the great liberation there is a smile behind that thin veil of sadness. He suffered pain, shame, and ridicule and died. I am not any way sad but rejoice that his death was on my behalf. Why should I be sad when I know that his pain brought me healing and his shame is the reason for my dignity? I am only proud and grateful. Yes, the adjective "Good" is not only grammatically correct but experientially too. It was for my good that bad things happened to him.
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