As the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, continue the Triduum with Good Friday of the Lord's Passion, we are invited to be present as we commemorate the events of Good Friday, as Jesus, the Suffering Servant, reveals the depth of the Love of God in His Glory on the Cross.
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah describes the Suffering Servant.
* [52:13–53:12] The last of the “servant of the Lord” oracles (see note on 42:1–4). Taken together, these oracles depict a figure of one called by God for a vocation to Israel and the nations (42:4; 49:5–6); the servant’s exaltation both opens and closes the passage (52:13; 53:12). The servant responded in fidelity but has suffered opposition (50:4–6). In this fourth oracle the servant is characterized as “a man of suffering” (53:3) and appears to be unjustly put to death (53:8–9). Those who have witnessed his career somehow recognize that he is innocent, has undergone suffering for their sins (53:4–6), and his death is referred to as a reparation offering (see note on 53:10–11). The servant is described in ways that identify him with Israel (which is frequently referred to as “servant” in the context of Second Isaiah—e.g., 41:8, 9; 44:2, 21; 43:4) and is designated as “Israel” in 49:3; yet Israel outside the “servant of the Lord” oracles is not presented as sinless, but rather in exile because of sin (40:2; 42:21–25) and even as servant as deaf and blind (42:18–19). The servant is thus both identified with Israel and distinguished from it. As with the previous servant poems, this chapter helped the followers of Jesus to interpret his suffering, death, and resurrection; see especially the passion narratives. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 52 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 31 is a prayer and praise for deliverance from enemies.
* [Psalm 31] A lament (Ps 31:2–19) with a strong emphasis on trust (Ps 31:4, 6, 15–16), ending with an anticipatory thanksgiving (Ps 31:20–24). As is usual in laments, the affliction is couched in general terms. The psalmist feels overwhelmed by evil people but trusts in the “God of truth” (Ps 31:6).
* [31:6] Into your hands I commend my spirit: in Lk 23:46 Jesus breathes his last with this Psalm verse. Stephen in Acts 7:59 alludes to these words as he is attacked by enemies. The verse is used as an antiphon in the Divine Office at Compline, the last prayer of the day. (Psalms, PSALM 31 | USCCB, n.d.)
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims Jesus as the Great High Priest.
* [4:14–16] These verses, which return to the theme first sounded in Heb 2:16–3:1, serve as an introduction to the section that follows. The author here alone calls Jesus a great high priest (Heb 4:14), a designation used by Philo for the Logos; perhaps he does so in order to emphasize Jesus’ superiority over the Jewish high priest. He has been tested in every way, yet without sin (Heb 4:15); this indicates an acquaintance with the tradition of Jesus’ temptations, not only at the beginning (as in Mk 1:13) but throughout his public life (cf. Lk 22:28). Although the reign of the exalted Jesus is a theme that occurs elsewhere in Hebrews, and Jesus’ throne is mentioned in Heb 1:8, the throne of grace (Heb 4:16) refers to the throne of God. The similarity of Heb 4:16 to Heb 10:19–22 indicates that the author is thinking of our confident access to God, made possible by the priestly work of Jesus. (Hebrews, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)
* [5:7] He offered prayers…to the one who was able to save him from death: at Gethsemane (cf. Mk 14:35), though some see a broader reference (see note on Jn 12:27).
* [5:8] Son though he was: two different though not incompatible views of Jesus’ sonship coexist in Hebrews, one associating it with his exaltation, the other with his preexistence. The former view is the older one (cf. Rom 1:4). (Hebrews, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Passion from the Gospel of John presents the Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus through to His Crucifixion and Burial.
The USCCB commentary is presented at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/18 and https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/19.
Cindy Costanzo reflects on our transformation through Christ suffering for us.
At approximately 3 pm the skies darken and Christ cries out “Father into Your hands I commend my spirit..and when he had said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23-33-46). Mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and other women at the cross (Matthew 27: 55-56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23: 49; John 19:25) are torn with grief; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus assist as Jesus is removed from the cross, his body prepared, and transported to the tomb.
We venerate the cross and pray for what is yet to come.
Lent has been a time for us to journey with Jesus. To silently reflect on scripture, to pray, and to deepen our understanding and faith in the risen Christ so we can open our hearts to love each other more deeply, to stay the course from sin to freedom and death to life.
I pray we have responded to the whisperings of Jesus during these past weeks. (Costanzo, 2024)
Don Schwager quotes “Christ nailed our weakness to the cross,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"As evening drew near, the Lord yielded up His soul upon the cross in the certainty of receiving it back again. It was not wrested from Him against His will. But we too were represented there. Christ had nothing to hang upon the cross except the body He had received from us. And in doing so He nailed our human weakness to the cross." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 140,5) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 52:13–53:12 comments that Jesus willingly bore our guilt. He even bore the guilt of the very people who were complicit in his arrest, trial, and crucifixion! John’s passion narrative, which we read every Good Friday, makes it clear who they are:
Judas, one of the Twelve, who followed Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry and yet still made the grievous decision to betray him.
The high priest Caiaphas, who failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and sent him to be tried before the Roman authorities.
Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, who swore that he would die rather than turn on his Master but then denied three times that he even knew him.
Pontius Pilate, who knew that Jesus was innocent but, fearing the reaction of the people, condemned him to death.
The people in the crowd, who called out to Pilate, “Crucify him!”
Astounding? Yes. But that’s the message of the cross. Not only on Good Friday, but every day, let that message speak to you: You are loved. You are forgiven. You are redeemed.
“Jesus, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for bearing my guilt so that I might be healed of all the wounds of sin.” (Meditation on Isaiah 52:13–53:12, n.d.)
Peter Edmonds SJ, a member of the Jesuit community in Stamford Hill, North London, comments that the Gospel of John, is chosen by the Church to ‘introduce the profound mysteries celebrated each year during Lent and Easter’. Peter Edmonds SJ encourages us to read the whole of this ‘religious classic’ for ourselves.
It is fitting that we read this gospel during Lent and Easter when we are at our best spiritually. It took time before this gospel was accepted in early Christianity. It was regarded as a dangerous gospel, to be handled with care, because it carried two main risks. It could lead to a neglect of the humanity of Christ, as if the divine Jesus was only pretending to be human. This is known as the heresy of Docetism. It could also lead disciples to claim they could not sin, because they have already undergone judgement in their encounters with the Christ whose glory they have seen. This is known as Gnosticism. These issues are addressed in the Letters of John, which are probably to be dated after the gospel. This writer ‘declared to you what we have seen and heard’ (1 John 1:3) and warned that ‘if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves’ (1 John 1:8). A true classic is a text to which we can return again and again, and always discover something new. Rarely indeed will we pick up the fourth gospel and not learn something fresh about the story, the theology and the drama which it contains. It was surely sound instinct and wisdom that led the Church from earliest times to adopt this gospel as its favourite pedagogical means to introduce the profound mysteries celebrated each year during Lent and Easter. (Edmonds, 2014)
Friar Jude Winker shares a reflection on the passage from Isaiah and Psalm 22 commenting on how the Holy Spirit pulls back the veil in the resemblance of these texts to Jesus' experience, particularly on Good Friday. The Gospel of John is rich in symbolism and proclamation of Jesus divinity and authority especially in the Passion Account. Friar Jude comments on the political motives of Pilate and the symbolic marriage of Jesus to the Church on the Cross.
Brian McLaren invites us to an imaginative experience of the painful reality of scapegoating that occurred on Good Friday. He asks If Jesus is showing us something so radical about God, what is he telling us about ourselves—about human beings and our social and religious institutions? What does it mean when our political leaders and our religious leaders come together to mock and torture and kill God’s messenger?… Is this the only way religions and governments maintain order—by threatening us with pain, shame, and death if we don’t comply? And is this how they unify us—by turning us into a mob that comes together in its shared hatred of the latest failure, loser, rebel, criminal, outcast … or prophet?… What kind of world have we made? What kind of people have we become?…
In the middle of the afternoon … even from this distance, we can hear Jesus, “Father, forgive them!” he shouts. “For they don’t know what they are doing.”
Forgive them? Forgive us?
Our thoughts bring us again to the garden last night, when Jesus asked if there could be any other way. And now it seems clear. There could be no other way to show us what God is truly like. God is not revealed in killing and conquest … in violence and hate. God is revealed in this crucified man—giving of himself to the very last breath, giving and forgiving.
And there could be no other way to show us what we are truly like. We do not know what we are doing, indeed.
If God is like this, and if we are like this … everything must change. (McLaren, n.d.)
We contemplate the Passion and the meaning it holds for our journey and our approach to relationships with the people in our lives as we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to accept the mission of Christ.
References
Costanzo, C. (2024, March 29). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/032924.html
Edmonds, P. (2014, March 21). Story, theology and drama in the Gospel of John. Thinking Faith. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/story-theology-and-drama-gospel-john
Hebrews, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/4?14
Isaiah, CHAPTER 52 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/52?13
John, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/18
McLaren, B. (n.d.). We Do Not Know What We Are Doing. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/we-do-not-know-what-we-are-doing/
Meditation on Isaiah 52:13–53:12. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/03/29/925467/
Psalms, PSALM 31 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/31?2
Schwager, D. (n.d.). It Is Finished. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=mar29
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