Good Friday & Easter –Why Both are important

“Unless there is Good Friday in your life , there can be no Easter Sunday ” -Fulton J.Sheen

Yesterday was Good Friday . It’s a somber day remembering the sacrifice that was made for all of us. I often want to fast forward and focus on the celebration part of Jesus’ Resurrection instead of sitting in the uncomfortable space of what took him to the cross and what he endured for my sake and yours.

We decided to watch the Passion of Christ as a family last night and oh my was it hard to watch. The movie starts with Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to God intensely asking him to take this cup from him but if not then his will be done. These moments of prayer are gut intrenched and brings you to your knees. These were the moments I would think any human part of Jesus knowing the sacrifice he would make asked for it to not be that way but still willing to do it if it was the Fathers will.

A few moments later , Jesus is betrayed and then arrested . As the disciples start to fight back , one of them cut off a guards ear . You see the guard in such agony and Jesus gently touches his ear and heals him in that moment. The other guards called to have him help them but all he could do was sit there in awe. I couldn’t help but to think about that scene . What was the guard feeling coming into the scene to arrest Jesus?How did he feel when his ear was cut off? What did he think when this man he came to arrest touched him and healed his ear? I wonder how that changed the guards life after that moment?

The progression to the cross begins and you see our Savior beat and spit on by his own people . We witnessed the scene where one of his disciples that walked with him ,denied him three times in a short time . We saw the dilemma of Pontius Pilot and the struggle he had with pleasing others and maintaining his position while also having the sound wisdom of his wife play against those.

Pilot commissions for Jesus to be disciplined to please the people but tells his guard to not bring death. The beating that came from the Roman Soldiers was difficult to watch .Those persecuting him wanting him to die and be crucified watched as the skin was tore from his back . We couldn’t help but turn away and stopped the movie at this point. It was so hard to watch .

One moment that really struck me through the movie was the way Jesus responded. He didn’t fight back,he didn’t ask his followers to fight ,he instead told them to put their weapons away, he didn’t curse or put them down and he didn’t try to run away or talk his way out of it . He willingly took it all.

I often think if I was living during that time , how would I have responded? Would I have been so caught up in the crowd cheering for his death? Would I have been a follower that loved him but when this time came deny him in front of others in fear of what they may do to me? Or would I have fought, trying to take on the whole world even though this was foretold ?

This weekend is way more then just celebrating .. it’s also about remembering all that his sacrifice was .