Today, all over the world, we commemorate the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary for the salvation of mankind. Today, we celebrate the death that reconnected humanity to divinity(Col 1:20). We celebrate the victory of Jesus over sin and the evil forces of this world. We celebrate the death that brought restoration to man which was lost by Adam. Even in His Divine form, He did not claim equality with God, rather Jesus humbled himself even to die on a cross to redeem mankind from the abyss of death(Phil 2:6-8). For us to understand fully, we must understand the concept of death. Death in itself is a mystery. What is good about “GOOD FRIDAY?” Why don't we call it 'BAD FRIDAY' or 'BLACK FRIDAY' since we are commemorating the death of Jesus.
In the beginning, God created man in His own image and likeness and gave man power and authority to rule over all other creatures of God(cf. Gen 1:28). Man shared the likeness of God and they both communicated. God made a beautiful garden for man to enjoy and placed Him in the garden(Gen 2:15). He never intended suffering and death for man. But Adam lost all that God gave him through the sin of disobedience. When Adam disobeyed, he was not only chased away from the garden, he was now to suffer grievously for what he did(Gen 3:23). He was to till the soil for survival which signified hardship. Despite all these, God still loved man, he still cared for man, he made man ruler over everything He created, he still had him in heart(cf. Psalm 8:3-6). When God saw how helpless man was, how suffering and hardship had befallen on man, God had to have mercy on man. In God’s compassion, mercy and love, He sent His only son to redeem man and restore man back to God(John 3:16). Jesus was to be incarnate of the Holy Spirit, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary(Luke 2:7), suffered and died on the cross in accordance with the scriptures.
We live in a beautiful world in which no human being under normal circumstance will wish to die. We desire longevity. We are afraid of death since it is a place of no return. Like the story above, everybody desired to go to Heaven(the dwelling place of God) but we do not desire death. Death separates the soul from the body. Death brings to an end the journey of life on earth. We are afraid of death not because we do not want to die but because we are afraid of going to that “place were many have gone but none has returned." Naturally, the separations that is caused by death brings sorrows, sadness, pains and lamentations on the bereaved. Whenever a friend or a family relative dies, we are saddened by such death; “We cry. We weep. We mourn.” Even when Jesus had about the death of His friend, Lazarus, He was moved with tears(John 11:35).
In our contemporary Igbo custom, we often use certain Igbo names to depict the nature of death and we unconsciously ‘plead’ with death to spare us. We answer names like “ONWUBIKO” meaning “PLEASE DEATH”, “IHEONWUMERE, ONWUMERE” meaning “WHAT DEATH HAS CAUSED”, “ONWUKANJO” meaning “DEATH IS THE WORST”, “ONWUEGBUNA”, meaning “DEATH SHOULD NOT KILL US” and so many others. We perform some sacrifices whenever there is calamity on our land so that we will not be struck by the destructive powers of death. Despite all these, death is inevitable. Death is a respecter of nobody. It comes like a thief in the night. There is a popular saying that, “a child that is born today is old enough to die." We cannot run away from death. It is a price for all mortals. The death of Christ has brought hope and meaning to our physical death. When Jesus met Martha, He assured her that He is the resurrection and life and all who believe in Him will live even though they die(cf. John 11:25).
You can then imagine the pains our Lord Jesus Christ went through in order to bring salvation to mankind. It was not an easy decision for Him to accept the shameful death on the cross. In the old Jewish tradition, crucifixion on the cross was the death penalty for armed robbers, blasphemers and thieves. In literal sense, Jesus was assumed to be a blasphemer that was why the Jews shouted “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.”(John 19:15).
In humility, He accepted to be debased, to be publicly humiliated and disgraced for our sake. In the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before His betrayal, trial and crucifixion, He prayed to God to let this cup (which signifies His suffering and death on the cross) pass Him by but that the will of God must be done(Matt 26:39, Mark 14:36) which was the redemption of the human race. This shows that Jesus was in agony when he thought of His intending death but in simplicity and fidelity, He submitted himself as a ransom for many(1 Tim 2:6). When Jesus was brought to the temple, a prophecy was told to Mary that a sword will pierce her heart and her son was destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel(cf. Luke 2:34-35). This portrays the fact that Jesus has been destined as the saviour of mankind. In essence, the death of Jesus on the cross can be described as a good death. A death that restored us back to God. His death on the cross have paid the price for our sins and waywardness(Col 2:13-14).
Friends, today we remember the glorious death of our Lord, savior and master on the cross. Over the centuries, many great men have died and yet none of their deaths can be equaled to the redemptive death of Jesus. Through His death, Jesus has reconnected us back to God. On the cross, He shouted, “IT IS FINISHED”(John 19:30) which means that He has paid it all. He died that we may be saved. He has carried our sorrows away. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, He remained mute and offered Himself as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins(cf. Isaiah 53:7.10). The prophet Isaiah captured it in a summative way when he wrote, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5, KJV). Even on the Cross, Jesus forgave the soldiers who mocked and crucified Him(Luke23:34). By this singular act, Jesus invites us to forgive our enemies no matter what they have done to us. He did not only die, He also rose up on the third day to fulfill the words of the Scriptures(cf. Luke 24:6-7).
Friends, today calls for a deep reflection on our lives and relationship with God and our neighbors. Jesus has paid the price for our sins but yet we still crucify Him the second time on the cross through our sinful ways. Just as St. Paul advised us in his letter to the church in Colossae, we must put to death our earthly desires such as sexual immorality, indecency, evil passions, greed, anger, idolatry etc. so that we do not crucify Jesus again on the cross (Col 3:5). Today calls us for a deeper and sober reflection. How often do we make conscious efforts not to annoy God? Today challenges us to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness. The death of Jesus will only be meaningful in our lives when we learn to avoid our sinful ways.
As we celebrate the glorious death of Jesus on the cross, the death that brought restoration to man, let us reflect on our life and make a decision not to crucify Jesus again on the cross of Calvary. Let us not be saddened by the very fact that we shall live this world one day but let us with faith look beyond death, trusting in Jesus who is the resurrection and life. We pray that we will one day behold the beatific vision of God at the end of our lives on earth. May the death of Jesus restore hope to the hopeless, joy to those in sorrow and grace to those in the ocean of sin so that they will repent from their evil ways. Through His death, may there be a renewal in our lives. Amen.
Have a fruitful reflection.
HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY.
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