The Long Good Friday is the title of a British movie about a London mobster whose desire to become a legitimate business man is threatened by a series of bombings on Good Friday. Things go from bad to worse to just awful and in the end all that he has is taken by powerful political zealots. The main character is not a sympathetic one and he deserves all that he gets and more. In the end it seems he realizes that and accepts his own death as a fitting end to a life dedicated to destruction. He is the same kind of man who hung next to Jesus on a cross - a thief and murderer given the same opportunity for eternal life that is given to you and me.
Mark 15:22-39 (NRSV)
Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
It was nine o”clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o”clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
Friday for Jesus began very early, being bound and handed over to Pilate. It will be a long day of beatings, mocking and torture. In an attempt to be fair Pilate tries to get Jesus to defend himself. Jesus is not talking other than to confirm that he is the King of the Jews. If we were to look in Jesus eyes at that moment we may have found that he was looking past the present horrors. In direct contradiction to the London mobster mentioned above, Jesus accepts his own death as a fitting end to a life dedicated to creation. Though none can understand or comprehend it at that moment. If Jesus' three year ministry is a gestation period then the cross, his very death, is the moment of birth. Life begins for us as the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. The mockers cried, "He saved others..." and they were right.
And now we wait...
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