John 19:28-30 -- “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
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Today, we experience the day of Christ’s death. Why must we experience it over and over again in our lifetimes? Is it not sufficient to observe it once and never return? We know the end of the story...why dwell on the painful part of it?
In my own life, I sometimes try to fast-forward through events, believing that the end result is more exciting and the journey along the way, though necessary, is not the best part of the experience. I can remember many times being at a concert, sitting in the movie theater or reading through a book as fast as I could, rushing to get to the end. Being at the end was better, having experienced the event. We humans are funny in the sense that we often take more joy in saying “I did that”, as opposed to “I am doing that.”
Similarly, many of us are already looking forward to Easter Sunday. We will likely be with family or friends. We have experienced the joy of the risen Christ on many occasions and are excited about singing hymns such as “Lift High the Cross” and having the word “Alleluia” return to our liturgical vocabulary, it having been absent since Ash Wednesday. But, let’s not get there yet. There is still much to experience.
Go back 2,000 years. You are in the time of Christ’s life on earth. You have seen Him preach and heal. You believe he is Messiah come; Emmanuel. Even though there are dozens of prophesies throughout the Old Testament about the death and resurrection of Messiah, even though Jesus had intimated it multiple times while with His disciples or in speaking with the crowds, you don’t know for sure whether all of this is true. You can see the events unfolding before you. Why doesn’t He use His power to stop this? You find yourself shouting with the crowd, “Crucify! Crucify!” Where do these words come from? You are standing in the street as He stumbles by and falls. You don’t help Him. They lay Him on the cross, pound the nails through His hands and raise Him up for all to see so they can relish in His humiliation. You stand and watch as you see Him die, taken down and buried in the tomb. What is happening?!?
Wasn’t all of this avoidable? Was the pain really necessary? At the Last Supper, Jesus could have told His friends, “Hey...let’s just party tonight. Don’t worry! Even though tomorrow will be full of pain and torture, even though I will die and be without you for a little while, I’ll be walking out of the grave Sunday morning. Be happy! This is no big deal!”. He could have assured His friends that His resurrection was certain, they need not be afraid. Remember, Jesus has the power of the universe at His disposal; the temporal and locational boundaries of time and space do not apply to Him. He could have whisked them all away, allowing time to fast forward through His crucifixion. He could have placed them in observance over the tomb, watching as the stone rolled away and He walked out, shining and glorious. He could have given them proof, letting them see and experience what was to come, in order that they not lose heart.
But, this losing of heart is important. Seeing Him arrested. Betraying Him. Watching His torture, the crown of thorns burying deep into His brow as He drags the heavy instrument of His death through the crowded streets. We must see the people of Jerusalem mocking Him, tempting Him to use the power of Heaven and Earth to bring Himself down from the cross, destroying it and laying waste to those who are killing Him. We must hear Him cry out to God. We must watch as He takes His last drink of the bitter wine.
We must experience His death, just as His mother Mary did, just as His disciples did.
Just as He did.
So, don’t rush through it. Take in the whole experience. Slow down and allow yourself the time to absorb the Passion of Good Friday. The pain we feel today is a crucial part of our ability to derive meaning from all that we see happening to Jesus on this day. Through our sin we have betrayed Him, we have killed Him. And though He did not have to, He willingly experienced this betrayal, torture and death, giving up His life for us.
Don't rush it. That too is the theme to a book Baseball for Breakfast. A boy finds a watch that allows him to fast forward through time so he can experience only the most enjoyable times in his life. He fast forwards to his at bats in baseball games since those times are the most fun. Over time his team gets worse because they get no practice time, he gets worse since he is only batting and not practicing, or eating, or sleeping. Alas it is but a dream but he learns that you need to take life as it comes because every part of life serves it's purpose.
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