Moving Beyond Our Good Friday Moments

Today is Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified: the day he was killed by the state for challenging the very political system in place through the teaching of the Kingdom of God. For the Kingdom of God is an inverted system that exalts the lowly, teaches one to love your neighbors and those different from you, even your enemies, and cares for the orphan, widow, stranger, and others. Thus, He was crucified. And while they knew He would be resurrected, whether or not they believed it, there’s still a loss of hope in the death of the one who came to challenge the oppressive power in place.
We can imagine how they felt because there are many times when we experience our own Good Friday moments. For some, it’s the day after an election. For some, it’s the release of questionable body camera footage in the case of police brutality. It can be the recent hate crime in Louisiana in which 3 black churches were burned. It could be the decision to close the border to keep out those seeking asylum as they flee persecution. The Good Friday moments are those moments when it seems the oppressive power has won and the hope for change has died. While we must allow ourselves to be in these moments, to mourn, to lament, to shout, we can’t stay there because we know that the change we believe in is on the horizon. On this Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we celebrate His victory over death, sin, and the grave and over the oppressive power they thought had won. For the hope in the resurrection is a knowledge of eternal life as well as a hope for us today in this very moment. The resurrection allows us to imagine a different future, one in which there is justice, equity, fairness, and equality for all. It reminds us that although life may be hard and injustices may be all around us, these moments won’t last forever for “joy comes in the morning.” So, we must continue to press and do the work of Jesus in the world as we combine our faith in a better tomorrow with the work of our hands.