We call it Good Friday, but what’s good about it? When Jesus carried His cross up Golgotha to be crucified, no one was thinking of the cross as symbolic of a burden to carry. To a person in the first-century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by the most painful and humiliating means human beings could develop. Jesus is betrayed by one of his own disciples. Roman officers and the Jewish police arrest him. Another disciple blatantly denies his association with him. He is sentenced to death, crucified and buried. Between the backstabbers, “authorities” and so-called friends, one would think what’s the use? Who will continue the good work that has already begun?

Less than a year apart, two very significant people in my life died. The first died after a battle with a serious infection and the second almost immediately, right around this season of the year. When they were well, both had struggles. Some might even say that it was the struggles that lead to the death. I can’t knowingly say, but what I do know is that their deaths changed my way of thinking. They were what we call “good people.” By this I mean people who did good things. Somehow I didn’t fully understand why they did what they did until they weren’t here to do it any more. Who will continue the good work that has already begun? It’s Good Friday once again and here am I Lord. Let the journey continue and the cross no longer a burden or imposed humiliation but rather  a strength and shield.

We remember his death…(BCP 368)