Good Friday
Read Matthew 27:45–54
When you earn your livelihood overseeing crucifixions, you eventually go numb. It’s a matter of survival. But today’s events terrified even me.
I’m used to dealing with slaves and criminals. Flog them, nail them to a crossbeam, and you’ll always get some colorful words out of them. Not this “king of the Jews.” He prayed for his torturers, he spoke kindly to a neighboring criminal, he found someone to care for his mother. Most criminals fight to breathe, but he brought hope?
That wasn’t the half of it, though. At midday, the sky turned black. When he decided to die — and it definitely was his decision — the ground shook. Corpses in graveyards came back to life. It was as though nature were coming apart at the seams.
Guards’ earlier taunts suddenly took on a new meaning. This man really was the son of God.
Jesus, thank you for using your death to bring hope out of chaos, both then and now.
Text by Jodi Craiglow
Video from First United Presbyterian Church of Belleville, IL