Good Friday, Bad Friday

Arguably, Jesus’ abhorrent torture was enabled by the animosity against him by the religious authorities of the time and is no different from the animosity the current establishment shows the Church today.

Jesus was crucified on a Friday and we call that Friday Good?  Really?

The Bad

The Crucifixion,” painted by Andrea Mantegna in 1457-1459 A.D. for the altarpiece at the Basilica of San Zeno in Verona, Italy, now hangs in the Louvre
According to Roman belief, death was not a punishment, but a release. The torture was punishment, and death was only allowed after a certain amount of pain and terror had been felt. I say I don’t fear death – I fear dying.

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking seemed to agree with the Ancient Romans. Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease that gradually, over decades, paralysed him, said: 
I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die, I have so much I want to do first.” As for life after death, Hawking
believed the brain is like a computer that will simply shut off. “There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,”

In 10 Horrifying Tortures Used on Ancient Rome, Elizabeth Yetter writes that :One of the most disgusting tortures performed involved smearing a Christian in honey and milk. The victim was then nailed into a barrel and force-fed parasite-ridden food. The parasites feasted on the insides the of victim, whose body began to rot inside the barrel. After about two weeks of this torture, the victim would finally die and become a martyr for the Christian religion.”

And the most horrific torture, Yetter writes. was Crucifixion. “If the accused was not supposed to die by continuous flogging, the next course of action involved nailing, his hands to the cross beam. He was then hoisted onto a planted post, and his feet were nailed to the post. He might be left there to die a slow death, or his thighs might be broken to help speed his end.”

The Good

While Christ’s Crucifixion is anything but Good, considering the horrific torture he was subjected to, he did it obediently, no sign of rancor or bitterness, no sign of revenge against his enemies, those who tortured him, Stephen Hawking nor any of the anti-Christ NY Times, USA Today, or WaPo writers. For all including all those who have gone before us including Adam and  Eve,

God’s plan from the beginning of time to the fall of Adam and Eve is now complete:  He has redeemed the world and the world will be able to finally get close to God

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who “makes himself an offering for sin“, when “he bore the sin of many”, and who “shall make many to be accounted righteous”, for “he shall bear their iniquities”. Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father. CCC 615

Jesus Seven Last Words

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”
“Woman, behold your son!….Behold, your mother.”

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

“I thirst.”

“It is finished.”

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

His death on the cross “ is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the “blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. CCC 613

This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other sacrifices. First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the Father handed his Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for our disobedience.CCC 614

Arguably, Jesus’ abhorrent torture was enabled by the animosity against him by the religious authorities of the time and is no different from the animosity the current establishment shows the Church today.

But just like Joseph, after being hated by his brothers, left for dead, and sold into slavery, Joseph was able to forgive his brothers, recognizing that God’s sovereign goodness overrides all. Joseph told his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).

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