(Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!)
A lot of times it is easy for me to skim right over the Good Friday part of Easter because it is so very bloody and traumatic and sorrowful.
I can't stand the thought of all of his suffering and the evil of those who set their hearts against him and tortured him and the weeping of a mother seeing her son die.
I want to get right to the glory of Sunday morning and the angels and everything being set to rights.
I want to get to the part where the stone is rolled away and the astonishment of the women as they come up on an empty tomb.
I want to laugh at the part where the disciples are incredulous when Jesus walks through locked doors and shows up asking for dinner.
But here is no glorious "Christ is risen" without the preamble of "Christ has died".
It is the awfulness of Good Friday that makes Easter so good.
It is in his facing of death and conquering of it (too bad, so sad, devil!)
that we begin to see a way out of our own mess.
He didn't do it just so it would make a good Bible story, for goodness sake.
He died so we can get a chance at living the life he designed us for.
Of being infused with his Spirit and being more than we ever thought we could be.
And of getting the opportunity to know him and his Father.
He did is because he loved us. Period.
And how do we, broken and trying tired supergirls that we are, respond to all that good strong loving?
We can stand, palms out, heart open, not side-stepping Good Friday but acknowledging the severity of the cross and say,
"I know what you did for me and I am thankful."
And on this rainy Easter 2010, I am just that. Thankful.
5 comments:
I, too am thankful for many things!
Blessings, andrea
I think the more willing we are to sidestep the evil and confusion and grief of Good Friday, the more we sidestep the surprise and miracle and glory of Easter Sunday.
Plus, for many of us, we need the reminder that God is breath-taking at turning something that horrible and turning into something that amazing. It's his specialty.
YES! I can totally relate to wanting to skip ahead to the glory, but you're so right when you say to skip the bad lessens the good that comes from it. Even day to day, GOD is shown ever greater when HE works out for good those awful things we go through. HE is a superstar at bringing beauty from the ashes of our lives.
Good post...my husband and I watched The Passion on Easter Sunday. It really does give the day a bigger meaning when you realize the sacrifice that Jesus made for the world!
Amen to that.
Getting thru Good Friday sometimes IS hard. I want to sometimes look away from the trauma that Jesus had to go thru. But the past few years, I have asked him to help me be sensitive and mindful to what he suffered. Because we need to know. We need to remember. Its important to know what he went thru for us. He did it for me. He suffered for me. Then he rose again for me...and all of us. What a beautiful, incredible gift. :)
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