Pastor's Corner: Good Friday

Today we find ourselves in the middle of Holy Week as we make that sacred pilgrimage with Jesus to the cross of Good Friday and the empty tomb of Easter morning. In a very real way, we are walking the way of the cross ourselves throughout this time. Like Jesus, we are carrying the burdens of COVID-19 and all that this pandemic has laid upon us. Our experience today of pain, suffering, and grief is as real for us as it was for Jesus.

I am very aware right now that there are an extraordinary number of individuals who are being condemned to death because of COVID-19. That’s a stark reality when we hear the statistics and number of deaths reported each day. The journey for them isn’t any easier or less traumatic even though they have faith through Jesus. There is consolation in knowing that Jesus walked this very road and was himself condemned to die as unjust and undeserving as that was for Him. It is unjust and undeserving today too. Yet it is the reality on the way of the cross we walk in such a time as this.

It strikes me that Jesus took up that cross on his own. What a lonely journey that must have been. The burden of COVID-19 is real and is a heaviness we carry as we go about our lives. That burden may be in the reality of being socially isolated from those we are usually in regular contact with. It may be in the precautions we need to take as we keep ourselves safe and healthy. It may be in the anxiety we feel within ourselves about what is yet to lie ahead of us in these days and weeks. May we know and trust that Jesus carries that burden with us especially when we are weary.

But then, as Jesus walked the way of the cross, he became weary, fragile, and vulnerable. And there, Simon of Cyrene helped Him carry His cross. I think of all those who are Simon of Cyrene today for those who are afflicted by COVID-19. Especially I think of those who are on the front lines in our hospitals and those offering essential services. They help the rest of us carry the load we feel these days.

Jesus was stripped of all his dignity as he was put on trial, mocked, beaten and paraded throughout the city on display. Imagine He was the same one who has welcomed into the city just a few short days ago with a parade and festival. Things have changed in such a short time. I think of those who lose their dignity during this pandemic; for them it can come upon them so quickly, without having symptoms. For many, they are having to be cared for when it comes to basic needs, and have no choice but to accept what others need to do for them. That can be such a loss of dignity and pride.

In that horrendous pain that went through His body, Jesus cried out in despair wondering where God was — “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” How many today as we face the realities of COVID-19 have cried out similarly to God — why is this happening? Where are you? Why are we left alone? With Jesus, we are in good company when we doubt and question. This was such a human moment for Jesus that reminds us He was exactly like us. May His cry bring us consolation and the realization our cries of despair and question don’t diminish our faithfulness.

This is what it all comes down to: Jesus commends his soul to God, he breathes his last. The agony is over. It is finished.. it is truly finished at least for the moment. COVID-19 is leading to such a moment for so many people – the breathing of their last breath. For these people, life as they knew it is finished, the agony is over, the struggle to breathe has ended. But with faith in Jesus, their death isn’t the end. They have crossed that chasm from this life to eternal life.

Jesus’ tomb represents all the graves we gather around when someone we love has died. There’s a finality in that moment as the body is lowered into the ground and covered with dirt. And those familiar words, “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” We must hold on to the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The cross is central to our faith in all that God accomplished for us … sending His Son Jesus to die on that cross so we would know the depth of God’s love for us and God’s desire to forgive us and be in right relationship with Him. Thanks be to God, who opened the gates of Heaven, that we might have faith, hope, and love, witnessed in Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation.

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The Rev. Maggie Lewis

First Presbyterian Church, Havre

Chinook Presbyterian Church