Good Friday invites us to set aside our regular routines to enter a sacred time of quietness and reflection. Today beckons us to delve deeper into the depths of the unfathomable Paschal Mystery, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are invited to see its sacred cycle inherent in the very pattern of our lives within our personal ups and downs. Our prayer seeks to draws us reverently into this mystery. The events of the Passion are an integrated segment of a whole: part of the unfolding mystery of God’s design. Thoughts can easily go awry if we too narrowly try to find the meaning of Jesus’ death apart from his ongoing incarnation and resurrection.
I propose that one might consider the writing style of Matthew, Mark and Luke akin to reporters of the daily news. Whereas, John’s approach more closely resembles the writing style of a documentary writer who wishes to convey to his audience a central message.
Sandra Schneider describes John’s central message in this manner:
“In the fourth gospel, events are not put forth in terms of sacrifice or retribution but in terms of self-gift: God so loved his own in the world that he laid down his life for them. Jesus’ self-gift was an act of friendship: “no longer do I call you servants…you I have called friends.” John’s gospel’s trilogy of –life, light, and love- captures [this] entire dynamic.”
In God’s unfolding design the Word became flesh and lived among us. Jesus graciously took upon himself all that human life entailed. Faithfulness to his mission and message brought him face to face with opposing forces. Opposition strong enough to demand a death sentence with capital punishment meted out in accordance with the methods of the day.
We should not be too myopic in our view of Jesus’ death on the cross but see it in the context of Jesus’ whole life. Let us rather treasure the image of the crucified Jesus not as one defined moment, but as a sacrament of Jesus’ total life among us, Jesus’ fidelity to his mission without limiting the cost, and our example of a life of total self-gift.
Nancy Wales, CSJ