Good Friday

Good Friday is tough. The crucifixion is nearly impossible to appropriate. It seems much easier to skip straight to Easter and celebrate the resurrection. Yet, can we have Easter without Good Friday?

I'm often overwhelmed by the senseless suffering of the world. Death and pain abound, and I don't know what to make of it. It's hard, and it sucks, and it doesn't add up. A friend of mine who has dealt with nearly every imaginable hardship in his life has asked me numerous times, "Why is it that some people have it so easy while I have to deal with so much?" We can theorize and guess why the world is so unfair and full of suffering, but when I look at my 13 year-old friend who has known little else than pain in his life, those theories don't provide much comfort.

Really, the crucifixion is utterly absurd. I'm not talking here about atonement; I'm talking about the very real act of Jesus' death. It wasn't some event that took place outside of history. Jesus was killed. The Roman authorities crucified him-- a man that had done no wrong. That to me seems as senseless as anything. It's upsetting. It's painful. It's infuriating. It's confusing. It's absolutely terrible.

It seems that my responses here are not so different from those that my friend's troubles evoke in me.

I don't know why the world is the way that it is, but I'm comforted to serve a God who lovingly immersed himself in the senselessness.