Good Friday. The sinless Savior suddenly was bearing the sins of the world on his shoulders. The Father turned His back, heartbroken. Jesus breathed deep, looking for the strength amidst his collapsed lungs to utter his final words: "It is finished." The prophesy is fulfilled. Now Mary has dried her tears. Creation is at a standstill, waiting for what will happen next. Priests are trying to determine what to do with the veil that had been mysteriously torn in half. Judas is hanging. The disciples are grieving, Peter especially. Joseph, a member of the Council, is wrapping Jesus' body in linen cloth and placing him in a tomb cut into the rock, a tomb where no one else had ever been laid. Pilate still couldn't find any fault in him. Barabbas is walking free.
Holy Saturday. A reminder that the silence of God doesn't equal the absence of God, but the missing presence of Jesus is felt nonetheless. It's also the Sabbath, but there's not much room left for rest when grievance has dominion. The disciples are confused, hidden behind locked doors, fearful of the Jewish leaders. Silence has fallen over creation. Emptiness becomes a feeling. Stillness becomes tangible.
Easter Sunday. Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of James, are up before the sun and on their way to the tomb so that they might anoint Jesus with spices, incense and perfumes. "How are we to roll the stone away?" they discussed as they approached the tomb. But the stone had already been rolled away, and the tomb was empty. Mary wept, convinced that the Roman seal had been broken and someone had stolen his body. "Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, Marry said, "Sir if you have taken him away, tell me where he is and I will go find him." But Jesus spoke her name, and her eyes were opened. "Go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." (John 20:11-17)
This series of events is our story of victory and prosperity. We are forgiven and made righteous through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus who laid it all on the line completely out of love, so that we might be able to experience relational intimacy with a holy and magnificent God through faith by sweet grace. We have been set free from the destruction of our sin and invited into a space of freely given grace and forgiveness and peace by the supreme lover of our souls. That Friday around 2000 years ago, as dreary as it was, paved the way for all to have the opportunity to experience salvation, ensuring that this Friday, nearly 2000 years later, could be a Friday to be celebrated.
