My Son's Thoughts on Good Friday

Thoughts on Good Friday
by Michael Goddard
April 20, 2011

Imagine being accused of breaking laws that you created and perfectly kept, just for
claiming to be who you actually are. You know that you are about to willingly pay the penalty for
the broken law, at the hands of the very ones who broke the law, so that they are not held
responsible.

Talk about Love....
Your reward for being so loving? You are stripped naked, beaten and scourged within
an inch of your life; mocked by those you love by having a crown of thorns being jammed into
your scalp, and you hear them jeer, “Hail, king of the Jews!” while blood runs down your face
and stings your eyes, only to be relieved by the eyes swelling shut from the beating you just
received by Roman soldiers who are experts in causing extreme pain. Your back is lacerated to
the point of shredded meat, all the way to the bone, as they weigh you down with a rough-hewn,
heavy, wooden cross that rends your flesh further.
You are stumbling, burdened by that cross digging itself into the fresh shreds of flesh on
your shoulders, as those very ones you love so much, the ones for which you are dying, spit in
your face. You fall on the ground under the weight of the cross. Sand, and the detritus of the
filthy street you are walking, embed inside the weeping wounds on your raw back. You think of
giving up. You have the power to end this, because you are who you say you are... whether
they believe it or not.

At that moment, a man comes along and picks up your cross, carrying it for you. When
you are jerked back up on your feet, ordered to keep walking, it still feels like the cross is still
there. Just before you decide to call the angels to your rescue, you remember, “I cannot stop.
I must continue. For (insert your name here)’s sake. I love (your name) so much, I can’t stand
to think of being without her (or him) for all eternity. (Your name) is the apple of my eye, and I
want to hide (your name) under that shadow of my wings, forever, in my Father’s Kingdom.
This motivation, this love, keeps you moving on, pressing toward your goal. When you
reach the crest of Golgotha, a 6’5” Roman soldier hulk shoves you to the ground. More dirt
and filth grind into your excoriated skin, causing you to scream out in pain. They man-handle
you supinely, dragging the raw skin of your back, snagging, across the splintery surface of the
ultimate tool of torture. By the time the thick spikes are driven into your wrists and ankles, you
hardly notice. By now, your body has started to go into shock from the loss of blood and the
excruciating pain.

You are lifted up high off the ground. You fall a couple of feet to a sudden stop when the
bottom of the death device shifts down into the hole that has been used to hold the crosses of
many murderers and thieves before, and probably many after. The pain is beyond description
when this sudden stop causes your tendons, cartilage, nerves, and flesh to rip at the sites of
spikes holding you captive... so that (your name) can be free. The excruciating (meaning out of
the cross) pain is only matched by your excruciating Love for (your name).
The sun is at its peak, straight overhead, adding to the misery of your condition. The
only relief you can find is by pushing up on your spike-perforated heels, scraping your already
infected back up against the splintered wood, so that your diaphragm can relax enough for a
slight expiration of air. You relax your legs again and your lungs inspire just enough to keep
you conscious. Conscious of the fact that you love (your name) more than you want your next
breath.

You close your eyes, wanting this to end. You hear the steady drip... drip... drip...
drip...of your blood making puddles in the dirt below: one on the right, one on the left, one
straight down. The precious blood of God, poured out for (your name).
After a few hours, a soldier sees that you are dead by jamming a spear under your ribs,
guided diagonally toward your heart, releasing blood and water. Normally they break the legs
of the criminal hanging on a cross, speeding up the death process, but you were already dead.
In this case, the Jews had wanted it done so they wouldn’t look bad by having crucified bodies
hanging in public on the Sabbath. They wanted to hurry the death of The Sabbath, to ensure
that the “sabbath” that they had perverted would be preserved.
Aren’t you glad that is not the end of the story.

Throughout my life, for some reason, I have had a hard time viewing the Love of the
Lord in a highly personal way. I could not imagine that God could love each of us, individually,
not simply as a whole. Therefore, I could not imagine that God was thinking of me, personally,
when Jesus was living, and dying, on the day we celebrate as Good Friday. I could, however,
imagine Him thinking about a good many of us, after all, He is God. He’s a rather bright fella,
capable of some pretty involved things.
When I prayed to Him, I could not imagine that He could give undivided attention to
me as well as all the other people that must be praying to Him at the same time. Maybe I
could imagine Him handling a good many at the same time, after all, He is God. With this
viewpoint, I could not imagine that I would ever be close enough to the top of the pile of mail for
my letter to ever be read. I figured there were many more deserving saints on Earth who God
considered “certified mail” and all I owned was “bulk rate” stamps.
The truth is, I still cannot imagine it.
But, I see things differently now.

God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) is an eternal being, whose power, presence, and
intelligence are infinite. This means He has no limits or boundaries, in time, or space, or extent,
or magnitude. This means He can love me, adore me, listen to me, experience me, perfectly,
without regard for limitation. It can be like I am the only person that exists in the whole universe
when it comes to communion with God and experiencing His attention and Love. This does not
indicate selfishness, because the same is true for all of us!

So, when I was thinking about what we celebrate today on Good Friday, in this light, or,
new way of thinking for me, it was a whole different experience. Try it!