"A Holy Day!"
Good Friday is such a holy and sacred day in our church year. There are so many themes we are invited to enter into as we become part of the story and recount all that God accomplished.
For me, the image of anyone taking their last breath is such a poignant moment. Imagine Jesus taking his final breath; did anyone notice? I wonder. I suspect that his mother and some of the other women at the tomb did. What does Jesus last breath mean for us today?
Through the brokenness of Jesus on the cross, we are made 100% whole. What a healing gift through such a selfless act of sacrifice. Unjust to be sure; but necessary none the less. This was part of God's story of redemption for all God's people and all of creation.
At the heart of the Good Friday message is the promise of forgiveness, even and especially when it is not deserved. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they have done!" What a profound witness to God's love and mercy, that even those who executed Jesus would be forgiven through the unconditional gift of grace.
Through all that happened on that first Good Friday, and through all the subsequent Good Friday's that have happened and still happen today, we know God's faithfulness. Let us pray that we may always claim for ourselves, with boldness and conviction, with excitement and passion, the awesomeness of God who always loves us and redeems, even when it meant the death of his Son on a cross.
A Good Friday Hymn: "A Holy Day!"
Tune: O Waly
Waly
Meter: 8.8.8.8
A holy day through pain and death;
the sacrifice in your last breath;
You gave your all and in your loss
We are made whole upon your cross
They nailed you to the cross of shame
They cried insults and placed the blame.
A crown of thorns upon your brow
Unjust the crime they would allow!
Lord you forgave the wrongs they’d done
You understood the victry won;
This had to be in God’s great scheme
Your hands and feet nailed to the beam.
A sacred story so divine
God’s glory now will always shine
For us to know God’s faithfulness
And claim with faith God’s awesomeness!
Text: copyright, The Rev. Canon Mark Kinghan, 2016. Not to be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express written permission of the author.
