Good Friday – It is finished.

Good Friday – It is finished.

“Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”

Luke 23:44-48 RSV

⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the multitudes who assembled to see the sight, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance and saw these things.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34

This was the only expression of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both Gospels related that it was in the ninth hour, after 3 hours of darkness, that he cried out this fourth word. The ninth hour was three o'clock in Judea. Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the Messianic prophecy of the Suffering Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 53:12, Mark 15:28, Luke 24:46). After the fourth Word, Mark related with a horrible sense of finality, "And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last" (Mark 15:37).

Meditate on the words of Jesus. Read the scripture several times. What cries out to you?  I am struck by his anguished tone.  He feels separated from his Father. This cry is from the painful heart of the human Jesus who must feel deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention his earthly companions the disciples, who "all left him and fled" (Matthew 26:56, Mark 14:50). Have you known such separation from God?  As if to emphasize his loneliness, Mark (15:40) even has his loved ones "looking on from afar." Jesus is now all alone, and he must face death by himself. Have you known what it is to be forsaken or abandoned by family and friends?  We now live in a secular nation many people have abandoned Jesus. For those who have ears to hear, let us pray for forgiveness for turning away, and for those who are suffering. 

Almighty ever-living God,

refuge of those who suffer,
look with compassion upon the afflictions of your children
who suffer due to this pandemic;
alleviate the suffering of the sick,
give strength to those who care for them,
and welcome into your peace those who have died,
and while this tribulation lasts,
grant that we may find consolation in your mercy
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.