As we listen to the Passion from the Gospel of John today, we can only imagine the uncertainty and fear that Jesus’ followers felt. We have been journeying with Jesus during the forty days of Lent. Many of us have been praying the stations of the cross each Friday, commemorating that Jesus died on a Friday.
On the day that Jesus’ day, many of his followers had fled in fear. His followers had seen Jesus perform miracles and had seen him heal the sick. He had heard him speak of himself as the life and the resurrection (John 11:25). However, now they saw him die an agonizing death on the cross. Jesus was crucified as if he were a notorious criminal. His followers had placed their hope in the future in him. In the midst of the chaos and violence of Good Friday, his followers seem to have forgotten his promise to come back to them. They felt lost, directionless, and abandoned. Yet, in John’s Gospel, Jesus promises his disciples before he commences his passion: “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.”
In the reality of life, we can feel different emotions: anger, frustration, confusion, despair, abandonment, isolation, desperation, and weariness. At times we may have felt lost and directionless like many of Christ’s followers on Good Friday. The promise Jesus made to his followers echoes in our hearts today on Good Friday: I will not leave you alone. I will come to you. At times, these promises may feel very far away from our reality. But Jesus’ promises are always there with us.
We are called to have hope today on Good Friday, even though this is the day of Jesus’ death. In the death of Christ, in the cross of Christ crucified, the goodness of God reaches out to us: the hope of resurrection and the hope of new life. Good Friday is not the end for us; there is still hope to come. In Good Friday, the moment of death is at the same time a moment of new life. This hopeless moment was the moment when eternal hope was given. This terrible moment of injustice was at the very same time a moment of God’s grace. This moment of excruciating suffering guaranteed that suffering would end one day, once and for all. This moment of sadness welcomes us to God’s eternal joy. The capture and death of Christ also purchases for us life and freedom. This is a solemn and serious day, but it paves the way for Easter joy.
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