It’s Good Friday, a day that even those of us who don’t tend to follow the Church calendar tend to observe. We tend to gather together for breakfast followed by a simple sharing of communion. We sing, pray, read the Gospel account and break bread together without comment. I find it one of the most moving occasions of the year.
Good Friday is when we specifically focus on Jesus’ death. Colossians 2:15 speaks of the victory of the Cross.
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
The enemies of Jesus are shamed by his death. He triumphs. But the Cross is also the place where Jesus is exposed, mocked, humiliated. He is put to public shame. We may not be so comfortable with that but it is worth remembering that it was our guilt and our shame that he took on himself so that we can be free of those things.
I find the idea of Jesus being put to public shame particularly thought provoking at the moment. There is much talk and hype about the importance of Christians having influence in the “public square”. Good Friday reminds us that yes the Gospel is public not private. However, that public nature and the very victory of the Cross is far different to the power of this world and age.
Faithroots 