Good Friday

If there were only one theme that I want consistently emphasized throughout this entire Lenten season, it would have to be found in this passage from the Letter to the Hebrews:

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

            We are tempted to see Jesus as our replacement – the Son of God who did our suffering for us so that we wouldn’t have to. But that’s not what a pioneer does. The trailblazer scouts out the pathway and marks the way for those who will come after. We only follow where Christ has gone before.

Jesus was not the first innocent person to endure mistreatment and to be put to death at the hands of those whom he loved. There are several factors that make Jesus unique. First, his suffering and death were no disruptions in his life. Instead, they were the reasons for his life. His very mission was to chart the course for us through death – the ultimate human fear.

The second factor that made Jesus unique was his wholehearted acceptance of his mission. That’s what this afternoon’s second reading meant when it said, “he learned obedience from what he suffered.” In the Greek mind, learning and suffering are related. Even the words meaning learning, “mathein” and suffering “pathein” sound alike. All mental and spiritual growth comes from failures overcome, and all failure brings with it pain. We’ve all heard the phrase, “no pain, no gain,” but many people believe falsely that it doesn’t apply to the spiritual life. Ask any recovering addict about the painful events that brought them to their knees and how necessary it was to their opening their hearts to a spiritual awakening.

But what does the Letter to the Hebrews mean by saying that Jesus “learned obedience”? How was the Son of God disobedient? That’s not what the passage implies. What it’s saying is that Jesus learned throughout his life to accept the suffering that was to be the hallmark of his mission without resentment and without complaint.

As followers of Jesus, these are the attitudes we strive for. We look to accept life on life’s terms – just as Jesus did – without resentment and without complaint. How can we cry out, “Why me, Lord?” when Jesus himself was not spared our human condition? And, even beyond acceptance, we strive to surrender our self-will to the will of God. Despite our fears that acceptance of life will lead us to disaster and surrender of our will will lead us to destruction, the truth is exactly the opposite.

And this is the third factor that made Jesus unique: his acceptance of suffering and surrender to death on a cross opened for him – and for us – the pathway to the resurrection. In today’s service, the Church immerses itself in mourning – not so much for Christ’s suffering, but for our own. And yet, even in that mourning, there is joy. The victory that Jesus won awaits us, too. It’s true that Jesus leads us to acceptance and surrender to our own suffering and death, but not as an end in itself. Jesus leads us not to suffering and death, but through it. It’s this realization that gives us joy today. The resurrection awaits us not just at the end of time, but at the end of each of our sufferings. That is our faith and that is our hope.

Let us continue this commemoration of Christ’s suffering, following the lead of our pioneer to the joy of his resurrection – and ours.