Good Friday: Power so Precarious

Today is Good Friday.  Much of the Christian world will consider this man hanging on a cross.  Will we think about Good Friday differently in a time of plague, in a time of economic collapse caused by this pandemic?

Christians have had some fairly common approaches to the Good Friday story.  Most Christians say that Jesus had to be sacrificed because of the sin of us all.  Some of us have been deeply uncomfortable with that narrative:  what kind of God would require that kind of sacrifice?  Some scholars point to the temple sacrifice traditions to explain this narrative.

Some Christians focus on the role of empire in this story.  They point out that crucifixion was the death used for those who were seen as enemies of the Roman empire.  A far more common form of capital punishment would have been stoning.

These days, I approach the Good Friday story by seeing lots of people in the grip of something they don't understand, working within power structures they can't control, power structures that are spiraling away from what people thought they understood towards chaos and pandemonium.

Once we might have thought of the chief priests and Pilate as the ones having the power.  Now I think about the larger sweep of history, and even Rome's power seems fleeting.  These actors have political power, true.  But political power can be so precarious.  The last few months and years have reminded us of that fact over and over again.

The story of the Crucifixion reminds we all suffer--even God who comes to be with us suffers.  There are some Christians out there who would tell us that if we just pray hard enough, we can avoid the sadness that's out there: our illnesses will go away, wealth will fall into our laps, prosperity of all kinds await us if we just trust in God enough.

The Good Friday story tells a different tale. Even God must suffer in the most horrible ways. God comes to earth to show us a better way of living our human lives, and in return, the most powerful earthly empire at the time crucifies him.

It's good to remember on Good Friday, and during all of our Good Friday times, that God can make beauty out of the most profound ugliness, wholeness out of the most shattered brokenness.

This year, that message resonates more than ever.