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Good Friday 10 April 2020

Mark 15:21-37

Good Friday is the day in the year when we focus on the sacrificial death

of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hot cross buns carry the sign of the cross

that has become the main symbol of Christianity. We remember today

that Jesus died on a large wooden cross nearly 2000 years ago.

In 2018 Denise and I visited Jerusalem and were able to walk along the

route that Jesus travelled on His way to be crucified. On a hot day we

struggled to carry water bottles and souvenirs up a long and fairly steep

hill. Jesus had to carry a very heavy wooden cross and then suffer an

extremely painful death.

It makes you wonder why this is called Good Friday, doesn’t it? The good

news is that Jesus death was a necessary sacrifice for us, out of God’s

love, so that we can be reconciled to God. Jesus’ death brought us

forgiveness, peace with God and hope. Furthermore, Jesus, Son of God,

suffering on a cross demonstrates that God understands what it is to suffer and

we can be confident that God is with us when we suffer.

God is with us in our sufferings

There is a lot of suffering in our world today. In the UK coronavirus lockdown

we are all suffering losses of freedom, we are mourning cancellations of

outings, events and holidays; we face separation and loneliness, job losses, loss

of health, relationship problems, financial hardships, shortages of foods and

other products and so on….The good news is that whatever our circumstances,

whatever our sufferings, God is with us.

It is good to know that God is with us in our own personal sufferings, those of

our family, those of our community and those of our country. Yet it is more

than that- because God loves the whole world as it suffers a pandemic

together.

As John puts it in that most well-known Bible saying:

“ For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that

whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”. John 3:16

Let us, once again, thank God for the loving gift of Jesus Christ, bringing us

love, forgiveness and peace through His sacrificial death for us on the cross.

Rev Mick Norman Rector