Day 15 — Good Friday
Mark 15:33-37
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
When did the true magnitude of the virus crisis hit you? Was it early on or only more recently? Perhaps a shift in your income, work pattern or family life? For me it was when I read about patients in Italy (who were ahead of us at the time) dying entirely on their own – apart from the doctors and nurses around them – with no close family members allowed near someone who had tested positive for the virus.
That image, for me, encapsulates the utter tragedy and horror of this human disaster. Not the big numbers, although that matters, but the image of the one, dying on their own, cut off from all those they love and who they want to be near.
Good Friday is the day where we remember Jesus dying on the cross over 2000 years ago. His death was significant because he was not only a human just like you or me but also because he was fully divine too. The Bible tells us that when he breathed his last breath, a cosmic change happened. All of our sin (the drive towards always serving and idolising the self), and even death itself, were taken down into the tomb with Jesus’s body. There, the two greatest forces that limit human flourishing (sin and death) lay awaiting their destruction three days later when Jesus in the power of the Spirit of God rose from the tomb in victory over them.
The point for today, Good Friday, however, is this: Jesus died alone.
He breathed his last breath sometime after three in the afternoon having cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me’ (Mark 15). The beauty and power of Jesus is that he understands our situation, our human condition in every possible way. He is not some remote god who has no idea what life is like for us. But he has entered our world to live and die like us, to experience all we experience, and yet be perfect and without sin. Jesus, understands what it’s like to die alone in a hospital bed without friends and family close. He was ‘a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief’ (Isaiah 53).
This is the message of today. That Jesus is our hope, Jesus is our peace, Jesus is our unparalleled hero. We pause today to reflect on his death on the cross, to thank him for his faithfulness and purity, to anticipate his rising in victory, but also, to draw strength, comfort, and divine power from him. He understands in every way. He looks into your eyes and says, ‘My child, I love you, I am with you, I save you - not just here on earth, but into eternity’. This is the message of the cross. This is the heavenly light that no dark crisis can ever extinguish. Jesus.
Prayer: Lord Jesus thank you that your love is deeper and stronger than death, and that you went to the cross to save me. Show me how to live a life that reflects that reality, power and compassion towards others.
Action: How could you pass on to someone else today, via text, letter, or act of kindness, this truth - that Jesus understands everything we are going through.
Dr Nick Drake