March 29, Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
Daily Readings: Isaiah 52:13—53:12, Hebrew 4:14-16; 5:7-9, John 18:1—19:42
Today is Good Friday. On this day, sinful humanity destined Jesus Christ to die. (April 30, AD). On this day, Jesus chose to learn obedience through what he suffered. It was through this great act of sacrificing his life that Jesus learned many lessons on obedience. The first reading is taken from the Book of Second Isaiah and the text is known as the fourth and final Suffering Servant Song, with its abundant allusions to the passion and death of Jesus on the cross. It is a kind of prophecy regarding Jesus’ final day on earth.
However, the expression “my servant” clearly refers to the remnants of Judah and Israel in Babylonian exile. It could also point out a suffering prophet like Isaiah, Jeremiah, or even Moses. It is also possible that it becomes a prophecy about a future servant, namely Jesus Christ. More importantly, people perceive God as both the one who inflicts pain and suffering on the servant and the one who exalts them. As James Cone says, “God in Christ became the suffering servant and thus took the humiliation and suffering of the oppressed into God’s history.”.
In reality, the spirituality of Good Friday demands from us that we learn to surrender to God at every moment of our lives. The Psalmist is a good example. The Psalmist supplies Jesus with the words of surrender. He says, “Into your hands, I commend my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” (Ps 31:5). Therefore, we must entrust ourselves to God.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews sees Jesus as a great high priest who, despite being sinless, has undergone testing. He is like all of us in everything except sin. He teaches us to offer prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears. He who taught us how to pray and gave us a prayer teaches us that we can also pray with tears and loud cries. It is another method of prayer!
The Passion narratives, according to St. John, portray Jesus as someone who has supreme authority over everything that is happening around him. That is why he would solemnly look around and surrender his spirit by declaring, “It is finished” (John 19:30). It simply means that everything is accomplished and Jesus, as an elder brother of humanity, has paid all the debts, thus making all of us free.
Call to Action for Catholic Living: Jesus, by dying on the cross, gives meaning to human suffering. He invites us to look at the cross when we are not able to cope with our sufferings. How courageously do we look at the cross of Jesus?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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