lenten blog | April 3, 2026

Good Friday

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for April 3rd:  Psalm 22; Isaiah 52:13—53:12; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1—19:42.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

I have mentioned this several times during Lent, but let me say it one last time.  I do not look at Lent like I look at Advent.  Advent anticipates and prepares believers for the mystery of the Incarnation (Christmas), that God takes on our full humanity in Jesus of Nazareth.  In the Epistle to the Philippians, Paul quotes a Christian hymn that is already familiar among first generation Christians around 56AD.  The hymn begins with words that express astonishment at Jesus’ human nature:  “Though [Christ Jesus] was in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied [έκένωσεν, ekenosen] himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness …” (2:6-7) 

Lent, I believe, does not anticipate Easter.  It culminates at the cross and grave of Jesus.  This is the only way to represent the true human nature of Jesus.  As He was born “emptied” of His divine nature, so He must die “emptied” of his divine nature.  Thus, that first generation Christian hymn continues in its astonishment:  “… And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” (2:7-8)  Scholars postulate that the hymn ended at “the point of death,” and that Paul himself added the phrase, “even death on a cross.”  The hymn marveled at God Incarnate’s death, and Paul expresses the further astonishment that it was not an ordinary death, but the scandalous “death on a cross.”  If Jesus endured the cross with absolute assurance of the resurrection, then His human connection with us is less than complete.  One of human nature’s defining characteristics is our awareness of our mortality and our hope without proof of our immortality.  Take this away from Jesus and His death is not like ours.  Take this away from Jesus and the desperate cry from the cross of “‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34) become the script of an actor. Take this away and Jesus’ loud cry, His primal scream (Mark 15:37), is stripped of its palpable distress and becomes just maudlin.  This is where Lent’s 40 days lead and where Lent ends.

Lent calls upon the faithful to consider and empathize with a crucified Saviour, even going as far as Jurgen Moltmann who offers the theological teaching of a “Crucified God.”  This is a defining mystery that cannot be passed over in a rush to the empty tomb.  Similarly, we must understand the loss and confusion of the disciples who saw the cross only as defeat, who do not anticipate the resurrection.  Lent calls on us to walk in those same shoes so that we may marvel still at the love of Christ, at the love of God, so outlandishly provocative that its last testimony is the crucifixion and death of the Incarnate Word of God. 

Isaiah’s Suffering Servant was always seen as a precursor to Jesus by Christians.  In today’s passage we read, “Who has believed what we have heard?”  Honestly, who really believes in a love like this?  Isn’t this why we rush from the cross to the empty tomb because we do not like to linger at such a love as this?  On His last night, Jesus offers a final revelation, a deathbed testimony:  “‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have love you, you also must love one another.’” (John 13:34)  As the last words of a loved one are cherished so may these last words of Jesus be cherished by all who call on His name.  We are commanded to love just as Jesus loves, and that means as much as the cross.  In a new world order apparently defined by power, where prayers to Jesus can ask for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” it is a fair to restate Isaiah’s question:  “Who has believed what we have heard?” 

May we take time this Good Friday to contemplate what the cross means.  The church will be open from noon until 3:00pm for private meditation and prayer.
​
If you would like to join us for our online Bible study, please send an email to [email protected] for the Zoom logins.
If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.