Good Friday Reflections

It was (and is) a beautiful day, if a bit windy. The sun shone, and the temperatures were mild. I had the day off, since it's Good Friday, and I do work for a church organization. I did some chores, ran some errands, and then spent a good portion of the afternoon at one of the nearby Barnes & Noble bookstores having a couple of diet sodas and reading. This evening I will attend services at my parish church.

Throughout the day I watched people going about their business and leisure activities. The mail was delivered. Meals were served and eaten. Shopping was done. Gas was pumped. Houses were swept. Yards were raked. Friends were met and chatted with. Pick-up soccer games were played. Just another day in lower Fairfield County.

But it's Good Friday! The most somber day in the Christian Calendar! The world should be in mourning! We should be remembering and reflecting upon the momentous day that took place some 2,000 years ago.

Then it occurred to me that the day Jesus was crucified would have been similar to this. For the most part, people in Judea, and even most people in Jerusalem, would have been going about their ordinary lives: shopping, cleaning houses, meeting friends, playing games, and preparing for Passover. Yes, there would have been a crowd gathered for the trial and the execution, and perhaps a bit of one along the route to Golgotha. Most people, however, would not have been concerned about the execution of the leader of a small movement in a tiny corner of a vast empire.

But, but, but! I can hear you saying. It's one of the most important events in world history! How could people be so unaware? The Gospels tell us of earthquakes, eclipses, the tearing of the temple curtain. This was a tremendous happening!

It was a tremendous happening, for Jesus' followers at the time. For most of the crowd it was Friday afternoon entertainment, as executions often were. It was one of the most important events in history according to the Gospel writers. But they were not eyewitnesses, and they were writing to tell the story as an important event for the world. It is an important story for us, because we have been raised as Chirstians in a Christian culture--and don't kid yourselves, as secularized as our culture may have become, it still carries major Christian influences! For the rest of the world 2,000 years ago, and for growing numbers of people today, today was and is just another day.

That is one of the many contradictions of this day. The execution of one seemingly insignificant leader of one of many movements plaguing the Roman Empire in the supposedly backwater province of Judea became the salvation event for millions of people.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Peace,
Jeffri