When ever I
visualize this gospel reading for Good Friday, I think of darkness. It takes place in
darkness. Everyone has torches and
lanterns. Fires are burning to provide
warmth and light. Even as people fight
the darkness, it tries to hide the ugliness of the situation, but darkness also
hides truth.
I want to tell you another
story when darkness hid ugliness.
When my daughters
were about four and five, my family attended a wedding in New Orleans.
The reception that night was at the Metairie Country Club. Everyone
was dancing in a room dimly lit by candles and small lamps. In this darkness was hidden the truth about
the ugliness of my dancing.
But there was
beauty there in both of my daughters who wanted to dance. So, we danced together. I took there
hands in mine. They placed their tiny
feet on mine and we danced together. My
ugly dancing became wonderful and graceful. I picked them up and danced with them
in my arms.
Afterward, they
both looked at me. One said "I l-o-o-o-ve
my daddy!" And then both together,
“Daddy, I love you, I love you, I love you." I looked down at my children and expressed
all the joy that I felt in my heart, "I love you! I love you! I love
you!"
My story is a simple
story about the love that took away the ugliness of my dancing. But the passion story is also a story about a
love that takes away ugliness. Not a
simple story in the events; but, a story of truth based on love. That truth of love is the simple part.
The passion story is a story of ignorance. And, ignorance is
darkness. The passion story is about people who
do not know the truth of Jesus’ love. An
ignorance expressed by Pilate when he asked "What is the Truth?"
Well, let me tell
you Pilate . . .
The truth is that God sent us a
perfect model of love and truth. Jesus Christ
is the incarnate Son of God. He is where
love and truth are found. The Son of God
did not stop being
what He
always was; He became something He never was. He continued to be the fullness of God, but
that fullness was born of a woman and walked this earth as a man. God’s word
became a man, human in every respect, the perfect man.
The truth is that Jesus’ ministry
on earth was of God. A ministry performed
by the man Jesus, who was totally yielding to the will of the Father and completely
dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Jesus
was not God in a man-suit; but God, who was totally a man. Jesus was God walking in our shoes. God experiencing life, as you and I do.
Jesus’ divinity was expressed through the power of the Holy Spirit as he healed
the sick, cast out demons, and worked so many miracles.
The truth is that when given
the choice between the goodness and compassion that was the Eternal Son of God
and the violence of this world, people chose the world. They chose Barabbas, a worldly "son of a
father." People chose a worldly impostor over the truth of God. Yet, the
truth is, even today, we still choose worldly impostors in our lives
over the eternal Son of God.
In this, humanity
becomes entangled in the trap of our sin and sin tears our souls to
pieces. Jesus Christ took our sins upon
himself. He suffered for our sins. A suffering manifest on the perfect man in the
lashes and the beatings, the bruises and the blood, the ridicule and the
torment, the torture and the crucifixion - all inflicted by us.
The truth is that God is all
powerful and has no need for us. Yet, God chooses to love and care for us. It was this love that stood before Pilate. The will of God expressed as Jesus, a man mad
with the love of the Holy Spirit. Jesus in
a crown of thorns for all to see - “behold the man." Despite our human lowliness,
this man lived the will of God. In his
goodness, He loved us infinitely, even to his death.
The truth is that God’s truth
is greater than that of Man. Jesus offered
his human life for our salvation. It was through God’s sacrifice of God
that we could be justified.
Love is the truth
of his passion!
Love is the truth of his passion!
Jesus said, “For this I was born, and for this
I came into the world, to testify to the truth."
Love is the truth of his
passion!
It is the truth of Christ’s love to the end that gives
redemption, atonement, reparation, and satisfaction. It was God’s love in this sacrifice that provided
merit for our justification and provided salvation to all.
The truth is no matter what Pilate
wrote on that cross; I only see love
written on it. Love is written in the
blood of his sacrifice. Love in the truth that
touches the heart. Through the Holy Spirit,
we still know this truth. The best truth is the simply made known in his love.
Love is the truth
of his passion!
When we think of
this truth, we should be like a child. We
take Jesus' hands for him to lead us so that we will not fall. We let the truth that is Jesus Christ lift us
up to carry us in an ultimate joy.
As He leads us, Christ
takes away the darkness and ugliness of our sins. Let us lift our hearts to God, and pray - “Father,
We love you! We love you! We love you!” And, as we look to Jesus
on the cross, we can know the truth. It
is a simple truth, "He loves us! He
loves us! He loves us!"
