Good Friday
A friend sent me the B.C. comic strip today. I am not a regular reader so don’t know the names of the characters, or even if they have names. I do find it strange that a story happening “Before Christ” would discuss Good Friday. That aside, the first frame shows a man sitting on a rock and another man standing behind him. The sitting figure is facing away for the man standing behind him. The sitting man says, “I hate the term “Good Friday.” The man standing says, “Why?” “My Lord was hanged on a tree that Day.” The standing man answers with a question, “If you were going to be hanged on that day and he volunteered to take your place, how would you feel?” The man sitting responded with just one word, “Good.” The man standing is now walking away, he says, “Have a nice day.”
Good Friday was not good for Jesus, if “good” means, “pleasant.”
Jesus does not awaken to begin his Friday. He has been awake all night and has been harassed and beaten by the best and brightest men of his religion. The Sandhedrin were also called the Presbytery. Because they resembled the 70 elders (presbutos) Moses chose to decide minor disputes during the Exodus. They numbered 71 and did not consider only minor disputes but tried the most serious cases in Judea but not in Gallilee. Before he was king, while a young man, Herod appeared before them to answer charges. They were established, in principle, during the time of Ezra, but had little power until the time when the Greeks ruled over Palestine
Our Lord’s evening prayers are rudely interrupted by his arrest, which is emotionally punctuated by the betrayal of a friend. He is kept awake all night and placed before four tribunals in less than nine hours. The Sanhendrin arrest him and try him at night. They find him guilty of blasphemy and treason. They take him to Pilate’s court for sentencing, where is questioned by a man who wants to find some politically wise way to release him. To that end, he sends him to King Herod as a change in venue. Herod sends him back to Pilate for his fourth and final trial. There he is sentenced to death and order to be executed immediately.
His six hours on the cross exhaust him and he dies of suffocation when his arms are no longer strong enough to hold his torso in a position where he can breathe. It is also likely that his heart exploded in his chest. He literally dies of a broken heart. Emotionally and spiritually, he suffers the agony for the sins of the entire world and perfectly satisfies the God’s terms of redemption for the Elect – or, if you are of a different theological bent, for all who trust him.
Johnny Hart, the writer of the B.C. comic strip understands what happened on that Cross. Jesus died – for us and for our salvation. It is a Good Friday indeed.
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