Good Friday
Contemplating a world without God.
Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your
family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be
betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer
death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
This is the day we contemplate what the world would be like without God.
What the world would be like without love. Without hope.
I sometimes hear people say: ‘It’s Good Friday - but Easter’s coming!’
No. That’s not what today is.
The disciples did not know anything about Easter. They just knew Jesus was dead. Everything they believed in was gone.
Good Friday is being in this place.
It’s hard. And it’s necessary.
Because God allows us to kill him. God does not force us into belief. God does not force us into love. God does not punish us for not being good.
Instead, God suffers for us. God dies for us. It is in this moment that we are saved.
“In a civilization that glorifies success and happiness and is blind to the sufferings of others, people’s eyes can be opened to the truth if they remember that at the centre of the Christian faith stands an unsuccessful, tormented Christ, dying in forsakenness.”
Jürgen Moltmann, the Crucified God
The cross proves that God’s love is unconditional, and that He loves every single person on earth, regardless of their behavior or betrayal of Him. His love is much bigger, wider, taller, and deeper than we could ever imagine. It is the fabric of the universe.