Good
Friday Reflection
We are all familiar with the typical
Madonna and child image in which we see Mary the mother of Jesus in all her
glory carrying a young Jesus. These
majestic and happy imagines fill us with warmth and remind us just how human
Jesus was. But as we take a look at
Michelangelo’s rendition of Madonna and Child, chills are sent through our
body. Instead of the vibrant Mary; we
see a slumped, distressed and shocked women trying to hold up the limp body of
her child. The pain of losing a child is
so great that the weight of her loss is bringing her own body down. The Bible passage echoes in my mind that at
the foot of the cross stands: “his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the
wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene”
As
I stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross on Good Friday, I stand in solidarity with
the Marys. I am not thinking about
Easter Sunday and Jesus’ glorious resurrection; although I know it is to
come. I am not thinking about the fact
that scriptures must be fulfilled. Instead
my heart is bleeding, my eyes are stinging and my body is aching. I feel as if the weight of Jesus’ body is
weighing me down and that his death is looming in my hands. For if we, as humans, had not had so much sin
we would not have needed redemption.
We
have all been in the shoes of one of the Maries. We have been the loved one of a dying family
member. We have sat at the foot of the
bed watching, waiting, praying and pleading with God as our loved one slowly
left us - leaving us at the foot of the cross full of solace and with the weight
of our own sorrow dragging our bodies to the ground. The grief of the loss so great that our
bodies explode in sorrow and we are left holding their limp bodies. On this holy day we cannot help but be
reminded of the holy moments of death.
These are the moments that define our faith and often bring us closer to
God. And this is the moment in which
Jesus’ Ministry was defined.
For
it is not Christmas but Jesus’ death and resurrection that defines us as
Christians, it is not the warm and fuzzy picture of the Madonna and Child that
gives meaning to our faith and religion but it is Jesus on the cross. It is the happenings of a few short days that
begins on Good Friday. It is the journey
of these three women; not only the pain they feel at the foot of the cross but
the relief they receive in coming to know that Jesus is in fact not dead. Today is for us the beginning of the
journey. We are feeling the sorrow today
at the foot of the cross. We are
remembering our sins that placed Jesus there and continue to place people there
today. We are feeling the sorrow and
weight of Jesus’ body as we try to hold up his life the best we can. Yet, each time we place a loved one in the
ground we are reminded of the life that is to come thanks to Jesus’ death on the
cross.
As
we sit today, observing Good Friday, let us not leave Christ on the cross but
instead wrap Jesus in our arms as Mary does in this sculpture. Let our love for Christ and our dedication to
his life transform this image into something that we long to see. Let us lift this image of our Christ into our
memories so that we may truly know the journey that he took for us and we will
one day take. Let us remember his death,
let us hold Jesus’ death in our arms feeling the weight of the burden he suffered
on the cross. Today, in solidarity with
the Maries, let us grieve the death of our Teacher knowing that in only a few
short days we will be celebrating the resurrection of our Redeemer.
